THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 

FROM  THE  LIBRARY 
OF 

ELI  SOBEL 


rr- 

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t 


'  I . 


THE  TRAGEDIE  OF 

MACBETH. 


<t//t?«j  Trtmus.    Sctena  Trima. 


T)>Kuta<ndLt'til«i»Z.  SU 


T  time  HWctn. 
men  agline? 


iHen  (hall  we  thre 
In  Thunder.Lighit 

j.  WhentheHuiley-burley'sdone, 
When  the  Battaile's  loft.and  wonne. 
I.  ThatwiUbeerenhefetoCSonne. 
j    Wheietheplace? 
j.  Vpon  the  Heath. 
,.  There  to  meet  with  MxhA. 
I     I  comc,Gr*,-M~!kj». 

Jl  />«i>4.«llsanon:faireisfoule..3ndfouitisfaire, 
Houet  ihroughthefoggeindfilthieayre.  Exmt. 


Scena  Secunda. 


um  waha.  Enter  King  iJMilcomi,  Vnit- 
ttendants,  mtttijtg 


Ki*£.  What  bloody  man  is  that  r  he  cin  rcpott, 
Ai  feemeth  by  his  plight.of  die  Rcuoli 
The  neweft  ftatc. 

Mtd.  ThismheSerieant, 
Who  likea  good  and  bardie  Souldier  fougVt 
•Cainft  my  Capiiuiiie  :  Haile  braue  friend  , 
Say^  to  the  King.thc  knowledge  of  the  Bioyio. 
Aithoudidfl  leaueit. 

Op.   Doubifull  it  flood. 

And  choake  their  Act  :  The  mciMcKcTO^dairlU 

(Worlhie  to  be  a  Rebcll,  for  to  that 

'The  multiplying  ViUaniei  of  Nature 

Doe  fwaime  tpon  him)  from  the  Weftcrne  Ifles 

Of  Kernes  andGiHovrgroiTci  is  fopply'd, 

ShewM  like  a  Rebelli  Whore  root  all's  too  weiVe: 
For  brauc  /Mro-ino  (well  her  deferues  thit  Nime) 
DifdayningFortune.nlthhisbnndKhtStcele, 
Which  fmoak'd  with  bloody  ereninon 
(Like  Valours  Minion;  caru'd  out  his  p  adage, 
Till  hec  fac'd  the  Slaue: 
Which  neu'r  fbooke  handv.nor  bad  faroell  to  him, 
Till  he  vnfeam'd  him  from  the  Naue  toth1  Chops, 
And  fix'd  his  Head  rpon  out  Battlernenu. 


C*f.  As  whence  the  Sunne  'gins  his  teflcftion. 
Shipwracking  Stonnes,»nd  direfoll  Thunders : 

Difcomfort  fwells?Marke  KingofScotland,iDarkt, 
No  fooner  Mice  had.with  Valoui  arm'd. 
Compeird  thefc  skipping  Kernes  to  null  their  heelcs. 
But  theNorweyan  Lord.furueying  vantage. 
Wiih  furbnflit  Armes,and  new  fupplyes  of  men, 
Begin  afrediaiTault. 


Ctf.  Yes.asSparrovKi.Eagles; 
Or  the  Hare,  tl.el.yon: 
111  fay  footh,  I  mutt  report  they  Jf  ert 
As  Cannons  ouer-<hirg'd  with  double  Cnc4«, 
So  they  doubly  redoubled  Rroakes  rpon  the  Foe  > 
Except  they  meant  to  bithe  in  rceLing  Wounds, 

Icannoi  tell :  butlamfaint, 
MyGatTiescryfoihelpe. 

fj»£.  So  well  thy  wordsbecomethee,a5tnyVTOHDd9, 
They  Iraack  of  Hoaoi  both :  Goeget  him  Surgcoru. 

£  ittfr  Rejje  Mutt  Af?m. 
Who  comes  here  ? 

Mil.  ThewonhyTiaxofRoSc. 

Lt»K.  What  a  haHc  lookes  through  Mi  eye»? 
So  fhould  he  looke.thjt  fceuics  to  fpcale  thingt  ttnogc 

Koff,.  God  fauc  the  King. 

K,»g.  Whence cja>'ftthou.worthy7la»r»> 

Ktff.  From  Fiffe,  great  Kiog, 
Where  the  Norweyan  Barmen  flow!  the  Slie, 
And  fanne  our  people  colj. 

AfnUedbytlmmoftdinoyillTraytor, 

The  Tint  of  Cawdor.bcgan  a  diCmatl  Conflift, 

Till  that  Itllnfi  Bridegroome.lapl  in  proofc. 

Confronted  himwith  fclfe-coaipatifoni, 

Point  againd  Point.rebellioul  Anne  'gainft  Arme, 

Curbing  his  Uuifh  {pirn :  and  toconclude, 

TheV,aoriefellon»l. 

Kmf.  Great  happinelTe. 

Keffi.  Thatnow.JwOTii.theNorwiyesKing, 
Craues  compoBtion : 

Nor  would  we  deigne  him  banal!  of  his  me:i, 
Till  he  disburfed , at  Saint  ftlma  ynch, 
Ten  thoufand  Dollars'.io  our  generall  ife. 


FACSIMILE  (REDUCED)  OF  THE  FIRST  PAGE  OF  MACBETH, 
FIRST  FOLIO 


THENEWHUDSON 
SHAKESPEARE 


THETRAGEDYOF 
MACBETH 


HENRYNORMAN 
HUDSON,  LI/D- 


EDITED  AND  REVISED  BY 
EBENE-ZER  CHARITON 
BLACK  LLD-  (GLASGOW) 

WITH  THE  COOPERATION  OF 

ANDREW  JACKS  OK 
GEORGE  HTH 


GINN  AND  COMPANY 

BOSTON  NEWTORK  CHICACX)  LONDON 
ATLANTA.  DALLAS  COLUMBUS  SAN  FBANCISCD 


ENTERED  AT  STATIONERS'  HALL 


COPYRIGHT,  1908,  BY 
GINN  AND  COMPANY 


ALL   RIGHTS  RESERVED 
PRINTED  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES  OF  AMERICA 

73 '-3 


fltbtngum 


CINN  AND  COMPANY  •  PRO- 
PRIETORS •  BOSTON  •  U.S.A. 


SRLF 

URL 


PREFACE 

The  text  of  this  edition  of  Macbeth  is  based  upon  a 
collation  of  the  seventeenth  century  Folios,  the  Globe  edi- 
tion, and  that  of  Delius.  As  compared  with  the  text  of  the 
earlier  editions  of  the  Hudson  Shakespeare,  it  is  conservative. 
Exclusive  of  changes  in  spelling,  punctuation,  and  stage 
directions,  very  few  emendations  by  eighteenth  century  and 
nineteenth  century  editors  have  been  adopted ;  and  these, 
with  every  variation  from  the  First  Folio,  are  indicated  in  the 
textual  notes.  These  notes  are  printed  immediately  below 
the  text  so  that  a  reader  or  student  may  see  at  a  glance  the 
evidence  in  the  case  of  a  disputed  reading  and  have  some 
definite  understanding  of  the  reasons  for  those  differences  in 
the  text  of  Shakespeare  which  frequently  surprise  and  very 
often  annoy.  A  consideration  of  the  more  poetical,  or  the 
more  dramatically  effective,  of  two  variant  readings  will  often 
lead  to  rich  results  in  awakening  a  spirit  of  discriminating 
interpretation  and  in  developing  true  creative  criticism.  In 
no  sense  is  this  a  textual  variorum  edition.  The  variants 
given  are  only  those  of  importance  and  high  authority. 

The  spelling  and  the  punctuation  of  the  text  are  mod- 
ern, except  in  the  case  of  verb  terminations  in  -ed,  which, 
when  the  e  is  silent,  are  printed  with  the  apostrophe  in  its 
place.  This  is  the  general  usage  in  the  First  Folio.  Modern 


iv  PREFACE 

spelling  has  to  a  certain  extent  been  followed  in  the 
text  variants ;  but  the  original  spelling  has  been  retained 
wherever  its  peculiarities  have  been  the  basis  for  impor- 
tant textual  criticism  and  emendation. 

With  the  exception  of  the  position  of  the  textual  variants, 
the  plan  of  this  edition  is  similar  to  that  of  the  earlier  edi- 
tions of  the  Hudson  Shakespeare.  It  is  impossible  to  specify 
the  various  instances  of  revision  and  rearrangement  in  the 
matter  of  the  Introduction  and  the  interpretative  notes,  but 
the  endeavor  has  been  to  retain  all  that  gave  the  Hudson 
Shakespeare  its  unique  place  and  to  add  the  results  of  what 
seems  vital  and  permanent  in  later  inquiry  and  research. 

While  it  is  important  that  the  principle  of  siium  cuique 
be  attended  to  so  far  as  is  possible  in  matters  of  research 
and  scholarship,  it  is  becoming  more  and  more  difficult  to 
give  every  man  his  own  in  Shakespearian  annotation.  The 
amount  of  material  accumulated  is  so  great  that  the  identity- 
origin  of  much  important  comment  and  suggestion  is  either 
wholly  lost  or  so  crushed  out  of  shape  as  to  be  beyond 
recognition.  Instructive  significance  perhaps  attaches  to 
this  in  editing  the  works  of  one  who  quietly  made  so  much 
of  materials  gathered  by  others.  But  the  list  of  authorities 
given  on  page  Ixxi  will  indicate  the  chief  source  of  much 
that  has  gone  to  enrich  the  value  of  this  edition.  Espe- 
cial acknowledgment  is  here  made  of  the  obligations  to 
Dr.  William  Aldis  Wright  and  Dr.  Horace  Howard  Furness, 
whose  work  in  Shakespearian  criticism,  research,  and  col- 
lating, has  made  all  subsequent  editors  and  investigators 
their  eternal  bondmen. 


PREFACE  V 

With  regard  to  the  general  plan  of  this  edition,  Professor 
W.  P.  Trent,  of  Columbia  University,  has  offered  valuable 
suggestions  and  given  important  advice ;  and  to  Mr.  M. 
Grant  Daniell's  patience,  accuracy,  and  judgment  this  volume 
owes  both  its  freedom  from  many  a  blunder  and  its  possession 
of  a  carefully  arranged  index. 


CONTENTS 


INTRODUCTION 

PAGE 

I.  SOURCES .  ix 

THE  MAIN  STORY ix 

THE  MACBETH  OF  HISTORY ix 

THE  MACBETH  OF  LEGEND x 

JOHN  OK  FORDUN x 

ANDREW  OF  WYNTOUN xi 

BOECE xii 

BELLENDEN xii 

STEWART xiii 

HOLINSHED xiii 

BUCHANAN xvii 

EARLIER  PLAYS xviii 

WITCH  LORE xx 

THE  MOVING  WOOD xxiii 

MACDUFF'S  BIRTH xxiv 

WAS  SHAKESPEARE  EVER  IN  SCOTLAND?     .     .     .  xxv 

II.  DATE  OF  COMPOSITION xxvi 

EXTERNAL  EVIDENCE xxvi 

INTERNAL  EVIDENCE xxviii 

III.  EARLY  EDITIONS xxi* 

FOLIOS xxix 

THE  QUARTOS  OF  1673  AND  '674 xxx 

ROWE'S  EDITIONS xxxi 

IV.  SHAKESPEARE  AND  MIDDLETON xxxi 

V.  VERSIFICATION  AND  DICTION xxxiii 

BLANK  VERSE        xxxiii 

RHYME xxxv 

PROSE xxxvi 

vii 


Viii  CONTENTS 

PAGE 

VI.    DRAMATIC  STRUCTURE      xxxviii 

ANALYSIS  BY  ACT  AND  SCENE xxxix 

VII.    MANAGEMENT  OF  TIME  AND  PLACE xliv 

VIII.   THE  CHARACTERS xlv 

THE  WEIRD  SISTERS xlv 

THE  WEIRD  SISTERS  AND  MACBETH xlix 

MACBETH  AND  BANQUO Hi 

MACBETH liv 

LADY  MACBETH Ivii 

IX.   GENERAL  CHARACTERISTICS ,  Ixiv 

X.   STAGE  HISTORY Ixvi 

THE  SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY Ixvi 

THE  EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY Ixviii 

THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY Ixix 

AUTHORITIES  (WITH  ABBREVIATIONS) Ixxi 

CHRONOLOGICAL  CHART Ixxii 

DISTRIBUTION  OF  CHARACTERS Ixxvi 

THE  TEXT 

ACT  I 3 

ACT  II 42 

ACT  III 67 

ACT  IV 97 

ACT  V 128 

INDEX 

I.   WORDS  AND  PHRASES ....  153 

II.   QUOTATIONS  FROM  HOLINSHED 159 

ILLUSTRATIONS 

FACSIMILE,  FIRST  PAGE  OF  MACBETH,  FIRST  FOLIO    .  Frontispiece 

MACBETH  MEETS  THE  WEIRD  SISTERS  (FROM  HOLINSHED)  xiv 

MACBETH'S  INVESTITURE  (FROM  HOLINSHED) xiv 

TITLE-PAGE,  HOLINSHED'S  DESCRIPTION  OF  SCOTLAND    .    .  xvi 


INTRODUCTION 


NOTE.  In  citations  from  Shakespeare's  plays  and  nondramatic 
poems  the  numbering  has  reference  to  the  Globe  edition,  except  in 
the  case  of  this  play,  where  the  reference  is  to  this  edition. 


I.    SOURCES 

The  fatal  consequence  of  the  intervention  of  malignant 
supernatural  powers  in  human  affairs  has  fascinated  the 
deepest  minds  in  all  ages  and  in  all  lands.  It  is  the  theme 
of  Greek  tragedy ;  it  is  the  germ  idea  of  the  Faust  legend  ; 
it  is  the  essential  element  in  Paradise  Lost,  The  story  of 
Macbeth,  as  we  have  it  in  Shakespeare,  belongs  to  that  great 
cycle  of  temptation  themes  which,  developing  naturally  from 
the  story  of  the  fall  in  the  Genesis  narrative,  became  in  the 
Middle  Ages  the  legend  of  the  man  who  sells  his  soul  to  the 
devil  in  exchange  for  fortune,  power,  or  universal  knowledge. 

THE  MAIN  STORY 
THE  MACBETH  OF  HISTORY 

Modern  research1  has  established  that  the  Macbeth  of 
history  was,  for  his  time,  a  worthy  and  beneficent  monarch, 
thoroughly  deserving  the  title  of  "  the  liberal  king  "  given  to 

1  Cf.  Freeman's  The  History  of  the  Norman  Conquest,  1867-1879; 
Skene's  Celtic  Scotland,  1876-1880  ;  Professor  Hume  Brown's  The 
History  of  Scotland  (Cambridge  Historical  Series) ;  Robertson's  Scot- 
land under  her  Early  Kings. 


x  THE   NEW   HUDSON    SHAKESPEARE 

him  by  St.  Berchan.  He  appears  first  in  trustworthy  annals  * 
as  the  hereditary  '  mormaor,'  or  high  steward,  of  Moray, 
accompanying  his  grandfather,  Malcolm  II,  on  a  mission  of 
homage  to  Cnut,  king  of  England,  in  1031.  His  seventeen 
years'  reign  (1040-1057)  was  marked  by  unprecedented 
order  and  prosperity  ;  and,  as  Buchanan  states  in  his  Rerum 
Scoticarum  Historia,  first  printed  in  1582,  he  applied  his 
mind  to  make  good  and  useful  laws,  a  thing  almost  wholly 
neglected  by  former  kings.  From  this  eleventh  century 
king  of  Scotland  the  influence  of  mediaeval  story-telling  and 
the  wilful  falsification  of  historical  material  for  political  pur- 
poses have  created  the  Macbeth  of  myth  and  legend.  "  With 
the  Scottish  historians  who  followed  the  War  of  Independ- 
ence it  was  a  prime  concern  to  produce  an  unbroken  line 
of  Scottish  kings  stretching  to  the  fathers  of  the  human 
race.  As  an  interloper  in  this  series  Macbeth  was  a  monster 
whose  origin  and  whose  actions  must  alike  have  been  con- 
trary to  nature."  — Hume  Brown. 

THE    MACBETH    OF    LEGEND 

i .  John  ofFordurfs  Chronica.  The  earliest  extant  version 
of  the  Macbeth  legend  is  in  the  Chronica  Gentis  Scotorum 
(sometimes  called  the  Scotichronicon?  of  which  it  forms  the 
first  part),  written  in  Latin  by  John  of  Fordun  (often  called 
John  Fordun),  a  secular  priest  and  canon  of  the  cathedral 
church  of  Aberdeen,  who  died  about  the  year  1385.  This 

1  Tn  the  earliest  records  the  name  is  spelled  '  Mealbeafte,'  '  Mac- 
beofte,'  '  Machetad,'  '  Machbet.'    In  Dalrymple's  version,  "  in  Scot- 
tish," of  Leslie's  Historic  of  Scotland,  printed  in  1 578,  the  name  is  given 
as  '  Machabie.'    In  Boece  the  Latin  form  of  the  name  is  '  Maccabaeus.' 

2  Edited  (with  a  translation)  by  Skene,  Edinburgh,  1871-1872. 


INTRODUCTION  Xl 

chantry  priest  did  for  Scottish  history  and  story  what  Geoffrey 
of  Monmouth  more  than  two  hundred  years  earlier  had  done 
for  the  mythical  history  of  Britain  and  the  Arthurian  story  in 
his  Historia  Regutn  Britannia.  Both  gathered  the  floating 
legends  and  stories,  facts  and  fables,  and  compacted  them 
into  "  something  like  a  chronological  system,"  thus  starting 
them  on  their  literary  career. 

2.  Andrew  of  Wyntoun' s  Orygynale  Cronykil.  About  the 
year  1424  Andrew  (Androwe,  Andro)  of  Wyntoun  (often 
called  Andrew  Wyntoun),  a  canon  of  St.  Andrews  who  be- 
came prior  of  St.  Serf's  Inch  in  Lochleven,  resolved  to  draw 
up  a  Cronykil  out  "off  Latine  in  tyll  Ynglys  sawe,"  1  as  he 
puts  it.  He  prefixed  the  adjective  '  Orygynale  '  because  the 
Cronykil  went  back  to  the  beginnings  of  men  and  angels. 
In  the  octosyllabic  couplets  of  the  Orygynale  Cronykil  is 
the  earliest  form  of  the  prophecy  of  the  Weird  Sisters.  This 
is  the  famous  passage  : 

A  nycht  he  thowcht  in  hys  dremying, 

That  syttand  he  wes  besyd  the  kyng 

At  a  sete  in  hwntyng,  swa 

In  till  a  leysh  had  grewhundys  twa : 

He  thowcht  quhile  he  wes  swa  syttand 

He  sawe  thre  wemen  by  gangand ; 

And  thai  wemen  than  thowcht  he 

Thre  werd  Systrys  mast  lyk  to  be. 

The  fyrst  he  hard  say  gangand  by, 

'  Lo,  yhondyr  the  Thayne  off  Crumbawchty  I ' 

The  tothir  woman  sayd  agane, 

'  Of  Morave  yhondre  I  se  the  Thayne !  ' 

The  thryd  than  sayd,  '  I  se  the  Kyng ! ' 

1  into  English  speech.  Untilwell  into  the  sixteenth  century  the  Low- 
land Scots,  though  they  called  themselves  •  Scottis  '  and  their  country 
'Scotland,'  called  their  language  '  Ynglys,'  '  Inglisch,'  or  « Inglis.' 


xii          THE   NEW  HUDSON   SHAKESPEARE 

Here,  it  is  to  be  noted,  the  temptation  of  Macbeth  by  the 
Weird  Sisters  takes  place  in  a  dream.  This  version  of  the 
story  is  followed  by  the  skeptical  and  rationalistic  Buchanan. 

3.  Boece's  Historic.    In  1526—1527  was  printed  the  Sco- 
torum  Histories,  of  Hector  Boece  (Boetius,  Boyis,  Boyce). 
the  first  principal  of  King's  College,  Aberdeen.    This  Latin 
redaction  added  new  epic  and  dramatic  elements  to  the 
Macbeth  legend.   The  meeting  of  Macbeth  and  three  women 
supposed  to  be  the  Weird  Sisters  is  now  described  as  an  actual 
occurrence  on  the  road  to  Forres,  and  the  story  begins  to 
take  the  definite  shape  familiar  to  readers  of  Holinshed  and 
Shakespeare. 

4.  Bellenderfs  Croniklis.    Under  the  title   Croniklis  of 
Scotland  a  very  free  translation  of  Boece's  work  into  vigor- 
ous Scottish  prose  was  made  aboi't  the  year  1533  by  John 
Bellenden  (Ballantyne),  archdeacon  of  Moray  and  canon  of 
Ross.    In  Bellenden's  version  in  the  vernacular,  first  printed 
in  I536,1  the  description  of  the  temptation  scene  is  pithy 
and  dramatic  : 

Nocht  lang  eftir,  hapnit  ane  uncouth  and  wounderfull  thing,  be 
quhilk  followit  sone  ane  gret  alteration  in  the  realme.  Be  aventura, 
Makbeth  and  Banquho  wer  passing  to  Fores,  quhair  King  Duncane 
hapnit  to  be  for  the  time,  and  met  be  the  gait  thre  wemen,  clothit 
in  elrage  and  uncouth  weid.  They  were  jugit  be  the  pepill  to  be 
weird  sisteris.  The  first  of  thaim  said  to  Makbeth:  'Hale,  Thane 
of  Glammis  ! '  The  secound  said  :  '  Hale,  Thane  of  Cawder  ! '  and 
the  thrid  said :  '  Hale,  King  of  Scotland  ! ' 

Bellenden  rehearses  Lady  Macbeth's  complicity  in  the  plot 
to  murder  Duncan  with  much  greater  detail  than  is  found 
in  either  earlier  or  later  versions  of  the  legend. 

1  Edited  by  Maitland,  Edinburgh,  1821.  Reprin-ted  in  Collier's 
Shakespeare ' s  Library. 


INTRODUCTION  xiii 

5.  Stewart* s Cronikle.    In  1535  appeared  a  Scottish  met- 
rical version  of  Bellenden's  Cronik/is,  purporting  to  be  by 
William  Stewart 1  and  made  at  the  command  of  Margaret 
Tudor,  Queen  of  Scotland,  for  her  son  James  V.    Though 
this  Cronikle  was  not  printed  till  after  Shakespeare's  day,  it  is 
perfectly  possible  that  he  may  have  had  access  to  it  through 
the  friendly  relations  between  James  VI  and  the  "  King's 
Company  "  of  players,  to  which  Shakespeare  belonged.  Signi- 
ficant verbal  resemblances  make  this  not  only  possible  but 
not  at  all  improbable. 

6.  Holinshed's  Chronicles.    As  the  numerous  extracts  in 
the  notes  to  the  text  in  this  edition  of  Macbeth  will  show, 
Shakespeare  derived  the  great  body  of  his  story  material  from 
the  Chronicles  of  England,  Scotland,  and  Ireland,  of  Raphael 
Holinshed(Holynshed,Hollingshead,Hollinshead), first  pub- 
lished in  two  folio  volumes  in  15  77,  and  again  in  1586-1587, 
"newlie  augmented  and  continued."2    In  this  second  edi- 
tion are  many  significant  changes  in  the  text,  and   it  is 
interesting  to  note  that  on  the  title-page  The  description  and 
historic  of  Ireland  precedes  Tlie  description  and  historie  of 
Scotland.    The  first  edition  has  a  great  many  quaint  wood- 
cuts inserted  in  the  text,8  and  two  of  these  are  here  repro- 
duced in  facsimile,  with  some  lines  of  the  text.    Figure  i 
represents  the  meeting  of  Macbeth  and  the  "  .iij  women  in 
straunge  &  ferly  apparell,  resembling  creatures  of  an  elder 

1  Edited  by  Turnbull  (Rolls  Series),  3  vols.,  1858. 

2  In  \V.  G.  Boswell-Stone's  Shaksperis  Holinshed  are  given  all 
the  portions  of  the  Chronicles  which  are  of  special  interest  to  the 
Shakespeare  student. 

8  These  woodcuts  were  omitted  in  the  second  edition,  and  many 
passages  of  the  original  text  were  cancelled  by  order  of  the  Privy 
Council  "  as  disagreeable  to  Queen  Elizabeth." 


.j  ait  trt  totbt  fapot^ncbt,  men  to  te     twra  fapoe :  an  *?apU  flpiktatfr^tf  feoafM 
t gtanmtoffij  tit  emvt  of  tbt  ffianw, w  ;o  lljanbeMtigdf&cotlano. 


Itai  Banqutjo,  total  niantt  of  toomrn  50  w  tn8  placemen  contrarilptljoa  in  W£Dt  (Hall 
(«tlil«)attpou,tl)atttEnulb  Iitlt  feuontablt      not  rtygntat  dI,tatofflwftoftffiaBhbMM 


FIG.  i 


2?alcoliiu  pjmrt  of  CnmbnUnoe,  as  u  turn      lent,  ht  ntE^uco  tbe  tnuetlurt  of  tlje  Kin^Dem 
tljctcbp  to  appoint  tjlmljiufiucdlaj  in  ttielrtng*     acwoingtotdeaccuflomtDtnanct. 


^bcboDie of  SDnneanc toau  Mi  conntpco      tbe  fcnnw  of  King  jeuncanr,  Ewfrare  of  tw 
-\onlitb£tt  butlffltn  anojptoift,      UutsaDljtclJEtDEpmigtjttticIlknrtD^seaaW* 

FIG.  2 


INTRODUCTION  XV 

worlde  ";  Figure  2  represents  Macbeth  receiving  the  "  inues- 
ture  of  the  kingdome  according  to  the  accustomed  maner." 

In  the  special  title  prefixed  to  The  Description  of  Scot- 
land v&  the  edition  of  1586-1587,  given  in  facsimile  on  the 
following  page  (Figure  3),  Holinshed's  indebtedness  to  Boece 
and  to  Bellenden  is  clearly  set  forth.  This  is  the  edition 
undoubtedly  used  by  Shakespeare,1  and  it  is  not  improbable 
that  the  mention  of  these  authorities  would  stimulate  him  to 
read  them  at  first  hand. 

While  the  dramatist  follows  closely  Holinshed's  account 
of  the  reigns  of  Duncan  and  Macbeth,  he  transfers  to  the 
murder  of  Duncan  such  details  as  the  drugging  of  the  grooms, 
the  portents,  the  tempest,  etc.,  from  the  narrative  of  the 
murder  of  Duffe,  Lady  Macbeth's  great-grandfather.  Addi- 
tional details  taken  from  other  parts  of  the  Chronicles  and 
woven  into  the  plot  of  the  play  are  the  story  of  young 
Siward's  death  and  the  description  of  the  English  king's 
touching  to  cure  '  the  evil.'  Furness,  too,  has  pointed  out 
that  the  hint  for  the  '  voice  '  which  cried  "  Sleep  no  more  !  " 
(II,  ii,  35)  probably  came  from  the  voice  that  Kenneth,  who 
had  poisoned  his  nephew  Malcolm,  heard : 

And  (as  the  fame  goeth)  it  chanced  that  a  voice  was  heard  as  he 
was  in  bed  in  the  night  time  to  take  his  rest,  vttering  vnto  him  these 
or  the  like  woords  in  effect :  "  Thinke  not  Kenneth  that  the  wicked 
slaughter  of  Malcolme  Duffe  by  thee  contriued,  is  kept  secret  from 
the  knowledge  of  the  eternall  God."  .  .  .  The  king  with  this  voice 
being  stricken  into  great  dread  and  terror,  passed  that  night  without 
anie  sleepe  comming  in  his  eies. 

1  For  example, '  ferly,'  in  the  description  of  the  dress  of  the  Weird 
Sisters  in  the  first  edition,  is  changed  to  '  wild '  in  the  second,  as  in 
Macbeth  I,  iii,  40.  Boswell-Stone  gives  other  proofs  of  this  kind. 


DESCRIPTION 


OF  SCOTLAND, 


Written  ac  die  firft  b  Hc^or  Boe- 


flated  into  the  Scocifh  fpeech  by 

Inhn  Bflleiuun  Ar  elide  tun  tf 

Murrey  ,  and  DOW  final. 


Wherevpon  is  inferred  the 
biftorie  of  Scotland ,  contdmng 
the  beginning,  incrcafe.procecding, 
continuance  ,*8s  ,»nd gaucrncmcnt  of 
the  Scotifh  nation,  from  the  original! 
ttiereofvntithcjetrc  i  sjt,gM 
ted  and  written  in  Englim  by  ft- 


_„  eontt 
nucd  from  I  5  7  i ,  to 
tjSj.byo. 
then. 


INTRODUCTION  xvii 

(In  this  connection  see  Buchanan's  account  of  the  con- 
science-stricken king  quoted  below.) 

Notable  changes  in  Shakespeare's  use  of  the  material 
furnished  by  Holinshed  are  the  idealization  of  the  character 
of  Banquo  and  the  simplification  and  compression  of  the 
action  in  the  interests  of  dramatic  economy.  Above  all, 
and  most  significant  of  all,  the  drama  throbs  with  a  passion 
and  a  moral  energy  of  which  Holinshed's  Chronicles,  with 
all  their  infusion  of  enchantment  and  the  supernatural,  have 
not  the  slightest  trace. 

7.  Buchanan's  Historia.  In  1582  was  printed  in  Edin- 
burgh the  Rerum  Scoticarum  Historia  of  George  Buchanan, 
the  famous  tutor  of  James  I  and  one  of  Scotland's  most  illus- 
trious scholars.  Of  this  work  there  was  no  version  in  Eng- 
lish until  after  Shakespeare's  death,  but  there  was  naturally 
much  discussion  of  it  in  London  after  James  ascended  the 
English  throne,  and  Shakespeare  must  have  been  acquainted 
with  the  book  to  a  greater  or  less  extent.  At  the  close  of 
the  Macbeth  narrative,  Buchanan,  whose  attitude  towards 
the  supernatural  is,  as  already  indicated,  uncompromisingly 
rationalistic,  has  this  very  significant  sentence  :  "  Certain  of 
our  writers  here  relate  many  things  which  I  omit,  as  they 
seem  fitter  for  stage  representations  or  Milesian  stories  than 
for  sober  history  (theatris  aut  Milesiis  fabulis  sunt  aptiora 
quant  historiae}."  M.  H.  Liddell  points  out  that  the  descrip- 
tion of  Kenneth's  awakened  conscience  in  Buchanan's  His- 
toria gives  us  "  the  picture  of  Macbeth's  torture  almost 
exactly  as  Shakespeare  conceived  it "  : 

His  Mind  being  disquieted  with  the  Guilt  of  his  Offence,  suffered 
him  to  enjoy  no  sincere  or  solid  Mirth  ;  but  in  the  Day  he  was  vexed 
with  the  corroding  Thoughts  of  that  foul  Wickedness,  which  would 


xviii       THE  NEW  HUDSON    SHAKESPEARE 

always  force  themselves  into  his  Mind,  and  in  the  Night  terrible 
Apparitions  disturbed  his  Rest.  At  last,  a  Voice  was  heard  from 
Heaven,  either  a  true  one,  as  some  think ;  or  else,  such  an  one,  as 
his  disquieted  Mind  suggested  (as  it  commonly  happens  to  guilty 
Consciences),  speaking  to  him  in  his  Bed.1 

8.  Earlier  Plays.  There  is  clear  evidence  that  within  a 
few  years  of  the  production  of  Gorboduc,  the  first  English 
tragedy,  Scottish  legendary  history  was  attracting  the  atten- 
tion of  dramatists  as  a  quarry  from  which  to  take  effective 
material.  Under  the  influence  of  the  passion  for  chronicle 
histories,  and  plays  founded  on  romantic  legend,  a  Tragedie 
of  the  King  of  Scottes  came  into  existence  as  early  as  1568; 
about  1590  Robert  Greene  produced  The  Scottish  Historic 
of  James  IV,  slaine  at  Flodden,  intermixed  with  a  pleas- 
ant Comedie,  presented  by  Oboram  King  of  Fayeries 2 ;  and 
Henslowe  in  his  Diary,  under  April  27,  1602,  refers  to  a 
play  called  Malcolme,  King  of  Scottes.  But  dealing  with  the 
Macbeth  legend  are  two  works  of  special  interest  in  this  con- 
nection :  (i)  Macdobeth,  probably  dramatic  and  certainly 
anterior  to  Shakespeare's  play,  and  (2)  a  Latin  Dramatic 
Dialogue  given  before  King  James  at  Oxford,  probably 
anterior. 

(i)  Macdobeth.  In  The  Stationers'1  Registers  under  the 
date  August  27,  1596,  is  a  reference  to  a  "Ballad  of 

1  This  translation  is  from  the  English  version  of  Buchanan's  His- 
tory of  Scotland,  published  in  Edinburgh,  1751.    In  The  Anatomy  of 
Melancholy,  Burton  quotes  this  passage  from  Buchanan. 

2  The  fact  that  this  play  (in  the  writing  of  which,  according  to 
Fleay,   Lodge  collaborated  with  Greene)  seems  really  founded  on 
the  Italian  romance  of  Astatio  and  Arrenopia  in  Giraldi  Cinthio's 
Gli  Hecatommithi,  1565,  does   not   affect    the   argument   regarding 
the  growing  popularity  of  Scottish  themes  for  dramatic  treatment. 


INTRODUCTION  xix 

Macdobeth,"  and  the  same  entry  refers  to  "  the  ballad  en- 
tituled  The  taming  of  a  shrew."  Collier  held  that  if  The 
Taming  of  the  Shrew,  which  is  known  to  be  a  play,  was 
recorded  as  a  ballad,  Macdobeth  was  probably  of  the  same 
character,  and  he  sought  to  identify  it  with  the  "  miserable 
stolne  story  "  referred  to  by  Will  Kemp,  a  famous  actor  of 
clowns'  parts,  in  his  Kempes  nine  daies  wonder,  printed  in 
1600.  In  searching  for  a  ballad-maker  who  had  written  an 
unauthorized  account  of  some  of  his  morrice-dancing  adven- 
tures, Kemp  says : 

I  met  a  proper  vpright  youth,  onely  for  a  little  stooping  in  the 
shoulders :  all  hart  to  the  heele,  a  penny  Poet  whose  first  making 
was  the  miserable  stolne  story  of  Macdoel,  or  Macdobeth,  or  Mac- 
somewhat  :  for  I  am  sure  a  Mac  it  was,  though  I  never  had  the 
maw  to  see  it. 

"  Here  the  words  '  to  see  it '  seem  to  show  that  the  piece 
had  been  publicly  represented,  and  that  it  was  not  merely  a 
printed  '  ballad.'  Kemp,  as  a  highly  popular  actor,  would 
most  naturally  refer  to  dramatic  performances."  —  Collier. 

(2)  A  Latin  Dramatic  Dialogue.  In  his  Essay  on  the 
Learning  of  Shakespeare  (London,  1767)  Farmer  held  that 
Macbeth  was  possibly  suggested  by  "a  little  performance 
on  the  same  subject  at  Oxford,  before  King  James."  This 
'  performance '  was  a  dialogue  in  Latin,  dealing  with  the 
prediction  of  the  "  prophetic  sisters "  (fatidicas  sorores} 
as  to  Banquo  and  Macbeth,  arranged  by  the  students  of 
St.  John's  College,  Oxford,  on  the  occasion  of  the  royal 
visit  to  the  university  in  August,  1605.  This  dialogue,1 

1  The  Latin  text  is  given  in  the  Appendix  to  Furness's  A  New 
Variorum.  Macbeth. 


XX     THE  NEW  HUDSON  SHAKESPEARE 

written  by  Dr.  Mathew  Gwynne,  was  found  by  Malone 
bound  up  with  Gwynne's  Latin  play  Vertumnus,  and  the 
opening  lines,  spoken  by  three  students  dressed  to  repre- 
sent Sibyls,  "  the  conceipt  whereof  the  King  did  very  much 
applaude," l  have  certainly  an  interesting  resemblance  to  the 
Witches'  prophecy  in  Shakespeare's  play. 

WITCH  LORE 

In  sorting  the  materials  out  of  which  the  Weird  Sisters 
weave  their  incantations,  and  in  gathering  the  ingredients 
which  they  compound  into  their  hell-broth  so  as  to  "  make 
the  gruel  thick  and  slab,"  Shakespeare  drew  upon  the  popu- 
lar belief  of  his  time.  Into  the  coarse  and  realistic  mixture 
he  infused  magic  elements  of  that  mystic  symbolism  which 
is  the  spirit  of  the  Fates  of  the  classical  mythology  and 
of  the  Norns  of  the  Scandinavian  —  that  mystic  symbolism 
which  already  had  so  strangely  idealized  certain  develop- 
ments of  witch  lore  in  the  old  Hebrew  story  (/  Samuel^ 
xxviii)  of  Saul's  visit  to  the  witch  of  Endor  and  the 
reading  of  the  future  through  a  rising  from  the  dead  in  a 
midnight  cave. 

i.  Scofs  Discoverie  of  Witchcraft.  As  the  quotations  in 
the  notes  to  the  text  of  the  play  indicate,  many  minor  de- 
tails of  the  witch  business  in  Macbeth  seem  to  have  been 
derived  from  The  Discoverie  of  Witchcraft?  1 584,  an  extraor- 
"dinary  impeachment  of  the  witchcraft  superstition  by  Regi- 
nald Scot,  a  Kentish  man  who,  after  years  of  study  at  Oxford, 
returned  to  his  native  county  and  gave  himself  to  gardening 

1  A.  Nixon's  The  Oxford  Triumph,  1605. 

2  Edited  by  B.  Nicholson,  London,  1886. 


INTRODUCTION  xxi 

and  hop-growing.1  The  Discoveric  of  Witchcraft  is  a  frank 
and  able  exposure  of  the  absurdities  of  the  popular  belief, 
but  the  value  of  his  book  to-day  is  in  the  detailed  account 
of  the  processes  of  sorcery  and  the  minutiae  of  witch  lore. 
The  scope  of  the  work  is  indicated  in  the  original  title : 

The  discoverie  of  witchcraft  wherein  the  lewde  dealing  of  witches 
and  witchmongers  is  notablie  detected,  the  knaverie  of  conjurors, 
the  impietie  of  inchantors,  the  follie  of  soothsayers,  the  impudent 
falsehood  of  cousenors,2  the  infidelitie  of  atheists,  the  pestilent 
practices  of  Pythonists,  the  curiositie  of  figure-casters,  the  vanitie 
o.f  dreamers,  the  beggarlie  art  of  Alcumystrie,  the  abhomination 
of  ;dolatrie,  the  horrible  art  of  poisoning,  the  vertue  and  power  of 
natuiall  magike,  and  all  the  conveiances  of  Legierdemaine  and  jug- 
gling are  deciphered,  and  many  other  things  opened  which  have  long 
lien  hidden,  howbeit  verie  necessarie  to  be  knowne. 

2.  King  fames1  s  Damonologie.  In  1597  King  James,  a 
born  arguer  and  reveler  in  '  counterblasts,'  issued  his  DCR- 
monologie,  in  Forme  of  a  Dialogue  as  a  reply  to  Scot  and 
other  skeptics.  Here,  too,  are  interesting  details  of  the  ways 
and  methods  of  witches,  as  this  extract  from  the  preface 
indicates : 

The  fearefull  abounding  at  this  time  in  this  Countrey  of  these 
detestable  slaues  of  the  Diuel,  the  Witches  or  enchaunters,  hath 
mooued  me  ...  to  resolue  the  doubting  hearts  of  many;  both  that 
such  assaults  of  Satan  are  most  certainely  practised,  and  that  the 
instruments  thereof  merits  most  seuerely  to  be  punished :  against 
the  damnable  opinions  of  two  principally  in  our  aage,  whereof  the 
one  called  Scot,  an  Englishman,  is  not  ashamed  in  publike  Print  to 
deny  that  there  can  be  such  a  thing  as  Witch-craft.  .  .  .  And  for  to 

1  He  is  said  to  have  introduced  hop-growing  into  England.    His 
treatise  on  the  subject,  The  Hcppe-Garden,  first  published  in  1574, 
was  thrice  reprinted  before  1580. 

2  cozeners,  impostors     Cf.  The  Winter's  Tale,  IV,  iv,  256;  King 
Lear,  IV,  vi,  167. 


xxii        THE   NEW  HUDSON   SHAKESPEARE 

make  this  Treatise  the  more  pleasant  and  facill,  I  haue  put  it  in  form 
of  a  Dialogue,  which  I  have  diuided  into  three  Bookes  :  The  first 
speaking  of  Magie  in  generall,  and  Necromancie  in  speciall :  The 
second,  of  Sorcerie  and  Witch-craft ;  and  the  third  containes  a  dis- 
course of  all  these  kinds  of  spirits  and  Spectres  that  appeares  and 
troubles  persons. 

3.  Neives  from  Scotland.    In  1591   there  appeared  in 
Scotland  a  book  called  Newes  from  Scotland,  in  which  are 
graphically  told  the  doings  of  certain  Scottish  witches  and 
"  supposts  of  Sathan  "  who  met  "  on  the  see  ...  in  riddles  or 
seives  ...  to  sink  the  schip  .  .  .  att  the  Kingis  returning 
fra  Denmark."   That  was  in  1589,  when  James  was  bring- 
ing home  his  Danish  bride.  This  little  book  was  republished 
in  London  in   1604,  when  the  king's  statute  to  suppress 
witchcraft  was  enacted.    Steevens *  connects  the  Scottish 
witch  lore  in  this  book  with  such  passages  in  Macbeth  as 
I,  iii,  10— n,  25-29,  but  in  Scot's  Discoverie  and  James's 
Dtzmonologie  the  power  of  witches  to  raise  storms  by  sea 
and  land  is  fully  recognized. 

4.  Gelding's  Chid.  Arthur  Golding's  translation  of  Ovid's 
Metamorphoses,  begun  in  1565  and  completed  in  1575,  is 
the  probable  source  of  much  of  Shakespeare's  knowledge  of 
classical  mythology.   "Golding's  rendering  of  Ovid  had  been 
one  of  Shakespeare's  best-loved  books  in  youth." — Sidney 
Lee.    In  it  we  have  Hecate  recognized  as  the  goddess  of 
witches : 

She  went  me  to  an  Altar  that  was  dedicate  of  olde 

To  Persys  daughter  Hecate  (of  whom  the  Witches  holde 

As  of  their  Goddesse)  standing  in  a  thicke  and  secrete  wood  .  .  . 

And  thou,  three-headed  Hecate,  who  knowest  best  the  way 

To  compasse  this  our  great  attempt,  and  art  our  chiefest  stay. 

1  Cf.  T.  A.  Spalding's  Elizabethan  Demonology,  London,  1880. 


INTRODUCTION  xxiii 

THE  MOVING  WOOD 

The  incident  of  the  moving  wood  belongs  to  the  folk- 
lore of  both  Semitic  and  Indo-European  peoples.1  In  Wyn- 
toun's  Cronykil  the  '  flyttand  Wod '  is  expressly  referred  to 
as  traditional.  It  is  adumbrated  in  the  Hebrew  story  of 
David's  conquest  of  the  Philistines  following  the  sound  and 
appearance  as  of  armies  moving  along  the  tops  of  the  mul- 
berry trees  in  the  valley  of  Rephaim.  In  Poet-Lore,  May, 
1890,  Dr.  Morris  Jastrow,  Jr.,  gives  an  Arabic  version  of  the 
story  ;  and  Halliwell-Phillipps  transcribes  a  variant  in  an 
old  romance  life  of  Alexander  the  Great.  A  vigorous  form 
of  the  story  is  in  a  broadside  ballad  purporting  to  be  by 
Thomas  Deloney  who  died  about  1600.  It  tells  of  the  way 
in  which  "  the  valiant  courage  and  policie  of  the  Kentish- 
men  "  enabled  them  to  use  the  device  of  the  moving  wood 
to  force  William  the  Conqueror  to  recognize  their  rights  : 

For  when  they  spied  his  approch 

In  place  where  they  did  stand, 
Then  march'd  forth  they  to  hem  him  in, 

Each  man  with  bough  in  hand. 

So  that  unto  the  Conqueror's  sight, 

Amazed  as  he  stood, 
They  seem'd  to  be  a  walking  grove, 

Or  els  a  moouing  wood. 

The  shape  of  men  he  could  not  see, 

The  boughs  did  hide  them  so, 
And  how  his  heart  did  quake  for  fear 

To  see  a  forest  go. 

1  Some  of  the  variants  are  given  in  Porter  and  Clarke's  Shake- 

sfeare  Studies :  Macbeth. 


xxiv       THE   NEW  HUDSON   SHAKESPEARE 

Simrock 1  has  shown  how  closely  several  of  the  Macbeth 
incidents,  including  this  of  the  moving  wood,  correspond  to 
the  traditionary  story  of  King  Griinewald  : 

A  King  had  an  only  daughter,  who  possessed  wondrous  gifts. 
Now,  once  upon  a  time  there  came  his  enemy,  a  King  named  Griine- 
wald, and  besieged  him  in  his  castle,  and,  as  the  siege  lasted  long, 
the  daughter  kept  continually  encouraging  her  father  in  the  castle. 
This  lasted  till  May-day.  Then  all  of  a  sudden  the  daughter  saw  the 
hostile  army  approach  with  green  boughs  :  then  fear  and  anguish  fell 
on  her,  for  she  knew  that  all  was  lost,  and  said  to  her  father,  "  Father, 
you  must  yield,  or  die ;  I  see  the  green-wood  drawing  nigh."2 

Simrock  claims  that  the  legend  of  the  moving  forest 
originated  in  the  German  religious  custom  of  May  festivals 
and  summer  welcomings. 

MACDUFF'S  BIRTH 

Simrock  has  also  pointed  out  that  the  connection  between 
an  untimely  birth  and  heroic  strength  and  prowess  as  shown 
in  the  Witch's  prophecy  that  "  none  of  womap  born  Shall 
harm  Macbeth"  (IV,  i,  80-8 1),  and  that  Macduff  satisfied 
this  grim  condition  (V,  viii,  15-16),  is  also  a  bit  of  Teutonic 
folk-lore,  Sigurd's  ancestor,  Wolsung,  having  been  a  child  of 
sorrow  of  this  kind.  Such  a  belief  is  latent  in  all  the  Aryan 
mythologies  and  is  common  to-day  among  the  peasantry  of 
many  European  countries.  Macbeth's  death  at  the  hand  of 
a  foe  not  born  of  woman  is  alluded  to  in  Wyntoun's  Cronykil, 
but  Shakespeare  undoubtedly  took  his  version  from  Hol- 
inshed's  Chronicles,  where  we  read  :  "  But  Makduffe  .  .  . 
answered  (with  his  naked  swoord  in  his  hand)  saieng  :  It  is 

1  K.  Simrock's  Die  Qnellen  des  Shakespeare,  Hildburghausen,  1870 
8  This  is  the  translation  given  in  Furness. 


INTRODUCTION  XXV 

true  Makbeth  ...  I  am  even  he  that  thy  wizzards  have  told 
thee  of,  who  was  never  born  of  my  mother,  but  ripped  out 
of  her  wombe." 

WAS  SHAKESPEARE  EVER  IN  SCOTLAND? 

Whether  Shakespeare  visited  Scotland  has  been  the  sub- 
ject of  much  discussion.  Knight,  Fleay,  and  other  scholars 
maintain  that  he  did,  and  that  Macbeth  derives  much  of  its 
'  local  colour '  and  peculiar  power  from  the  fact  that  the 
dramatist  was  describing  what  he  had  seen  with  his  own 
eyes.  Thus,  and  thus  alone,  it  has  been  claimed,  could  he 
have  caught  so  marvellously  both  the  letter  and  the  spirit 
of  old  Highland  romance.  The  internal  evidence  based  on 
such  accuracy  of  local  description  and  allusion  as  is  found  in 
I,  vi,  1-6,  is  strengthened  by  such  strong  external  evidence 
as  the  visits  of  English  actors  to  Scotland  during  the  time  of 
Shakespeare's  connection  with  the  stage.  On  October  22, 
1 60 1,  the  freedom  of  the  city  of  Aberdeen  was  conferred 
on  Lawrence  Fletcher,  "  Comedian  to  His  Majestic,"  and 
under  a  Privy  Seal  dated  May  17,  1603,  license  1  was  granted 
to  this  Lawrence  Fletcher,  William  Shakespeare,  Richard 
Burbage,  and  other  members  of  the  old  Lord  Chamber- 
lain's company  as  "  the  King's  Men,"  to  perform  stage  plays 
"  within  their  now  usual  house  called  the  Globe,"  and  else- 
where in  the  kingdom. 

Fleay2  held  that  Shakespeare  was  in  the  company  that 
went  to  Scotland  in  1601,  and  that  when  the  company  was 
at  Aberdeen  he  wrote  a  version  of  Macbeth  for  performance 
before  the  king  there,  in  the  winter  following  the  Gowry 

1  The  license  is  given  in  full  in  Collier's  Annals  of  the  Stage. 

2  The  Life  and  Work  of  Shakespeare,  London,  1886. 


xxvi       THE   NEW  HUDSON   SHAKESPEARE 

conspiracy.  This  he  revised  and  enlarged  after  his  interest 
had  been  awakened  in  the  subject  again  by  the  dramatic  dia- 
logue given  by  the  Oxford  students  in  1605.  Fleay's  theory 
is  interesting  and  suggestive,  but  of  course  inconclusive. 

II.    DATE   OF   COMPOSITION 

The  date  of  composition  of  Macbeth  falls  within  April  20, 
1610,  the  later  time  limit  (terminus  ante  quern),  and  1603, 
the  earlier  time  limit  (terminus  post  quern).  The  weight  of 
evidence  favors  1605—1606. 

EXTERNAL  EVIDENCE 

r.  Formats  Diary.  In  determining  the  date  of  compo- 
sition, the  most  famous  bit  of  external  evidence  gives  a 
definite  terminus  ante  quern.  This  is  Dr.  Simon  Forman's 
account  of  a  performance  of  Macbeth  attended  by  him  at 
the  Globe  theatre  on  April  20,  1610.  Forman  was  an  Eliza- 
bethan physician,  astrologer,  and  dabbler  in  the  black  art, 
and  in  The  Booke  of  Plaies  and  Notes  the  r  of  per  Formans 
for  Common  Pollicie*  a  little  manuscript  volume  discovered 
in  the  Ashmolean  Museum  in  1836,  he  gives  a  minute  and 
particular  account  of  the  plot  and  leading  incidents  of  the 
drama.  Forman's  description  begins  as  follows  : 

In  Mackbeth  at  the  glob,  i6jo,  the  20  of  Aprill,  ther  was  to  be 
obserued,  firste,  howe  Mackbeth  and  Bancko,  2  noble  men  of  Scot- 
land, Ridinge  thorowe  a  wod,  the[r]  stode  before  them  3  women 
feiries  or  Nimphes,  And  saluted  Mackbeth,  sayinge,  3  tyms  vnto  him, 
hailie  mackbeth,  king  of  Codon  ;  for  thou  shall  be  a  kinge,  but  shalt 

1  for  guidance  in  the  ordinary  affairs  of  life.  Furnivall's  reprint 
of  The  Booke  of  Plaies  is  given  in  the  Appendix  to  Transactions  oftht 
New  Shakspere  Society,  1875-1876. 


INTRODUCTION  xxvii 

beget  No  kinge,  &c.  then  said  Bancko,  what  all  to  mackbeth  And 
nothing  to  me.  Yes,  said  the  nimphes,  haille  to  thee  Banko,  thou 
shalt  beget  kinges,  yet  be  no  kinge.  And  so  they  departed  &  cam 
to  the  courte  of  Scotland  to  Dunkin  king  of  Scotes,  and  yt  was  in 
the  dais  of  Edward  the  Confessor. 

2.  The  Puritan.    Forman's  lengthy  and  detailed  notice 
of  Macbeth  has  been  regarded  as  evidence  that  the  tragedy 
was  then  fresh  from  Shakespeare's  hand,  and  was  in  its  first 
course  of  performance.    But  this  is  to  mistake  Forman's  pur- 
pose in  making  his  Notes.    Besides,  there  are  unmistakable 
allusions  to  Macbeth  earlier  than  1610.    In  The  Puritan,  or 
Tht  Widow  of  Watling  Street,  printed  in  1607,  there  is  a 
very  pointed  reference  to  Banquo's  Ghost :  "  Instead  of  a 
jester  we  '11  ha'  the  ghost  i'  th'  white  sheet  sit  at  upper  end 
o'  th'  table."  1 

3.  Marston's  Sophonisba.  Professor  Bradley,  in  his  Shake- 
spearian Tragedy,  points  out  a  number  of  parallels  between 
Macbeth  and  Marston's  Sophonisba  (The  Wonder  of  Women, 
or  The  Trajedie  of  Sophonisba),  printed  in  1606  —  parallels 
so  marked  as  to  be  conclusive  that  Marston  was  familiar  with 
Shakespeare's  play.    In  Marston's  other  plays  are  obvious 
reminiscences  of  Shakespeare. 

4.  Warner's  Albion's  England.    In  the  1606  edition  of 
Warner's  Albion's  England  (the  first  edition  appeared  in 
1586),  a  Historic  of  Macbeth  is  added,  probably  in  conse- 
quence of  the  popularity  of  Shakespeare's  play. 

5.  Latin  Dramatic  Dialogue.    In  summing  up  external 
evidence  for  the  date  of  Macbeth  some  weight  is  due  to 
the  Latin  dramatic  dialogue  given  before  the  king  at  Ox- 
ford in  1605,  as  described  above. 

1  The  often-quoted  similar  passage  in  The  Knight  of  the  Burning 
Pestle,  1611,  has  no  direct  bearing  upon  the  date  of  Macbeth. 


xxviii    THE   NEW  HUDSON   SHAKESPEARE 

INTERNAL  EVIDENCE 

The  terminus  post  quern  is  generally  agreed  upon  by  inter- 
nal evidence  as  1603,  the  date  of  the  accession  of  James  I. 

i.  Allusions  within  the  Play,  (i)  The  specific  reference 
to  the  union  of  the  two  crowns,  IV,  i,  120-121.  (2)  The 
description  of  touching  for  'the  evil,'  IV,  iii,  141—159. 
(3)  The  dramatic  use  of  witchcraft,  a  subject  of  intense 
interest  to  the  king.  (4)  Allusions  in  the  Porter's  speech. 
The  references  to  "  the  equivocator,"  II,  iii,  8— 1 1,  and  "  the 
farmer  that  hang'd  himself  on  the  expectation  of  plenty,"  II, 
iii,  4-5,  are  usually  quoted  as  pointing  to  1606  as  the  date 
of  composition.  The  "  equivocator ' '  passage,  especially  when 
taken  in  connection  with  IV,  ii,  45-50,  and  V,  v,  43,  is  re- 
garded by  some  as  a  reference  to  the  trial  of  Henry  Garnet 
(note,  page  54,  line  8).  Too  much  has  been  made  of  the 
"  farmer  "  allusion,  even  though  special  research  has  shown 
that  there  was  an  unusually  abundant  harvest  in  1606.  As 
a  matter  of  fact,  the  jest  seems  to  have  been  common  in 
Elizabethan  London  and  is  found  in  Ben  Jonson's  Every 
Man  Out  of  His  Humour,  published  in  1599  (see  note, 
page  53,  lines  4-5).  Another  common  Elizabethan  jest 
that  has  been  dragged  into  the  date  of  composition  discus- 
sion is  that  of  the  "  tailor .  .  .  stealing  out  of  a  French  hose." 
In  this  connection  it  is  well  to  remember  that  the  Porter's 
speech  is  regarded  by  many  editors  as  a  later  interpolation 
(see  below,  Shakespeare  and  Middleton).  (5)  "The  fatal 
bellman."  In  a  letter  published  in  The  Athenceum,  Septem- 
ber 13,  1902,  Professor  Hales  points  out  that  the  surmise 
of  the  editors  of  the  Clarendon  Press  Shakespeare  that  the 
full  significance  of  the  expression  "  the  fatal  bellman,  Which 


INTRODUCTION  xxix 

gives  the  stern'st  good-night,"  II,  ii,  3-4,  lay  in  its  "  allusion 
to  a  certain  Newgate  custom "  of  Shakespeare's  day,  is 
probably  correct.  In  1605  Robert  Dow,  a  merchant  tailor 
of  London,  gave  a  sum  of  money  to  provide  for,  or  fee,  a 
bellman  who  should  deliver  at  the  prison  of  Newgate  "  a 
most  pious  and  aweful  admonition"  to  condemned  criminals 
the  night  before  they  suffered. 

2.  Style  and  Diction.  While  certain  passages  in  Macbeth 
are  in  Shakespeare's  greatest,  richest,  and  most  idiomatic 
style,  and  taken  by  themselves  might  justify  placing  the  com- 
position of  the  play  as  near  as  possible  to  the  terminus  ante 
quern,  the  strict  application  of  the  various  verse  and  diction 
tests  *  (see  Versification  and  Diction)  would  make  the  date 
of  composition  as  early  as  the  main  body  of  the  external 
evidence  and  that  drawn  from  the  allusions  within  the  play 
allow. 

III.    EARLY  EDITIONS 

FOLIOS 

On  November  8,  1623,  Edward  Blount  and  Isaac  Jaggard 
obtained  formal  license  to  print  "Mr.  William  Shakespeere's 
Comedyes,  Histories,  and  Tragedyes,  soe  many  of  the  said 
copies  as  are  not  formerly  entered  to  other  men."  This  is 
the  description-entry  in  TJie  Stationers1  Registers  of  what 
is  now  known  as  the  First  Folio  (1623),  designated  in  the 
textual  notes  of  this  edition  F!.  Macbeth  is  one  of  the  six- 
teen plays  "not  formerly  entered,"  and  it  was  first  printed, 

1  There  is  an  excellent  summary  of  these  tests  in  Dowden's  Shak- 
spere  Primer.  See  also  Ward's  History  of  English  Dramatic  Liter- 
ature, Vol.  II,  pages  47-51. 


xxx        THE   NEW  HUDSON   SHAKESPEARE 

so  far  as  is  known,  in  this  famous  volume.  While,  as  to 
language,  it  is  not  one  of  the  worst  printed  of  the  plays,  the 
peculiar  nature  of  the  errors  and  corruptions  has  given  rise 
to  an  unusual  amount  of  textual  criticism  and  led  to  those 
interesting  theories  of  the  original  version  of  the  play  which 
are  discussed  elsewhere  in  this  Introduction  and  in  the  notes 
attached  to  the  text.  "  Probably  it  was  printed  from  a  tran- 
script of  the  author's  MS.,  which  was  in  great  part  not  copied 
from  the  original  but  written  to  dictation.  This  is  confirmed 
by  the  fact  that  several  of  the  most  palpable  blunders  are 
blunders  of  the  ear  and  not  of  the  eye."  — Clar.  Macbeth 
occupies  pages  131  to  151  in  the  division  of  the  Folio  de- 
voted to  Tragedies,  and  it  stands  there  between  Julius  Ccesar 
and  Hamlet.  The  running  title  is  The  Tragedie  of  Macbeth. 
It  is  one  of  the  seventeen  plays  in  the  First  Folio  in  which 
is  indicated  the  division  into  acts  and  scenes. 

The  Second  Folio,  F2  (1632),  offers  an  unusual  number 
of  changes  in  the  text  of  Macbeth  as  compared  with  that  of 
other  plays.  The  more  important  of  these  are  given  in  the 
textual  notes  of  this  edition.  This  Second  Folio  text  is 
repeated  with  few  changes,  except  in  the  way  of  slightly 
modernized  spelling,  in  the  Third  Folio,  F3  (1663,  1664), 
and  in  the  Fourth  Folio,  F4  (1685). 

QUARTOS  OF  1673  AND  1674 

In  1673  appeared  a  Quarto  edition  of  Macbeth  purport- 
ing to  be  as  "acted  at  the  Dukes  Theatre."  With  the  ex- 
ception of  songs  added  and  changes  in  the  witch  scenes, 
this  Quarto  is  a  reprint  from  the  First  Folio.  Furness  has 
suggested  calling  it  '  Betterton's  Version,'  after  Thomas 
Betterton,  whom  Pepys  regarded  as  the  best  actor  in  the 


INTRODUCTION  xxxi 

world.  In  the  following  year  appeared  a  Quarto  with  this 
title-page  :  '  MACBETH,  |  A  |  TRAGEDY.  |  With  all  the  | 
ALTERATIONS,  |  AMENDMENTS,  |  ADDITIONS,  |  AND  |  NEW 
SONGS.  |  As  it's  now  Acted  at  the  Dukes  Theatre.  |  LON- 
DON, |  Printed  for  P.  Chetwin,  and  are  to  be  Sold  |  by 
most  Booksellers,  1674.'  This  is  now  known  as  the 
'  D'Avenant  Quarto.'  It  gives  Sir  William  D'Avenant's 
post-Restoration  revision  of  the  play,  and  in  it  are  printed 
now  in  full  both  Thomas  Middleton's  famous  witch  songs, 
"  Come  away,  come  away,"  and  "  Black  spirits  and  white." 
Under  the  title  '  The  Persons  Names '  it  contained  the  first 
list  of  dramatis  personae. 

ROWE'S  EDITIONS 

The  first  critical  editor  of  Shakespeare's  plays  was  Nicholas 
Rowe,  poet  laureate  to  George  I.  His  first  edition  was  issued 
in  1 709  in  six  octavo  volumes.  In  this  edition  Rowe,  an  ex- 
perienced playwright,  marked  the  entrances  and  exits  of  the 
characters  and  introduced  many  stage  directions.  A  second 
edition  in  eight  volumes  was  published  in  1714.  Rowe  fol- 
lowed very  closely  the  text  of  the  Fourth  Folio,  but  mod- 
ernized spelling,  punctuation,  and  occasionally  grammar. 

IV.  SHAKESPEARE  AND   MIDDLETON 

In  the  First  Folio,  Macbeth,  III,  v,  after  line  33,  is  the 
stage  direction,  Musicke,  and  a  Song,  and  after  line  35 
another  stage  direction,  Sing  within.  Come  away,  come 
away,  &v.  Again,  in  IV,  i,  after  line  43,  is  the  stage  direc- 
tion, Musicke  and  a  Song.  Blacke  Spirits,  &c.  In  the 
D'Avenant  Quarto,  where,  as  mentioned  above,  both  songs 


xxxii      THE  NEW  HUDSON  SHAKESPEARE 

are  given  in  full,1  there  is  no  sign  as  to  the  source  of  them, 
and  for  long  they  were  supposed  to  be  D'Avenant's  own 
composition.  About  the  year  1778  (Malone  gives  the  date 
as  1779)  Steevens  is  said  to  have  found  in  "the  collection 
of  the  late  Thomas  Pearson,  esq."  a  manuscript  play  called 
The  Witch,  written  by  Thomas  Middleton,  one  of  Shake- 
speare's younger  contemporaries  and  a  well-known  dramatist 
of  the  early  seventeenth  century.  In  The  Witch  are  both 
songs  in  almost  the  same  form  as  D'Avenant  had  given 
them,  and  it  may  be  easily  surmised  why  the  songs  were 
not  printed  in  full  in  the  First  Folio.  Macbeth  was  of  course 
there  printed  from  a  playhouse  manuscript ;  and  these  songs, 
which  had  formed  a  popular  and  catching  part  of  Middle- 
ton's  otherwise  unsuccessful  play,  were  introduced  by  the 
actors  into  Macbeth,  and  were  presumed  to  be  so  well 
known  to  the  actors  of  the  play  in  the  form  it  then  had 
that  a  bare  indication  of  them  was  enough.2 

The  date  of  Middleton's  play  has  not  been  ascertained.8 
Various  resemblances  both  of  thought  and  language  in  the 
two  plays  —  resemblances  much  too  close  and  literal  to  be 
merely  accidental  —  show  that  one  of  the  authors  must  have 
borrowed  from  the  other.  Several  of  these  resemblances 


1  See  also  notes,  (i)  page  92,  lines  33,  35;  (2)  page  99,  line  43. 

2  A.  H.  Bullen,  in  his  Introduction  to  Middleton's  Works,  defend? 
the  Shakespearian  authorship  of  the  songs,  but  thinks  they  were 
probably  added  to  and  expanded  by  Middleton. 

3  Fleay  conjectures  that  The  Witch  was  composed  in  1622,  after 
Middleton  began  to  write  for  the  King's  Men  (Shakespeare's  old 
company,  see  page  xxv)  at  the  Blackfriars  theatre,  by  whom,  accord- 
ing to  the  title-page  of  the  manuscript,  the  play  was  first  produced. 
The  King's  Men  went  to   the  Blackfriars  in  1613,  and  Middleton 
wrote  for  the  company  from  1615  to   1624. 


INTRODUCTION  xxxiii 

occur  in  those  parts  of  Macbeth  which  are  unquestionably 
Shakespeare's  and  bear  the  clearest  tokens  of  his  mintage. 
Steevens,  in  the  enthusiasm  over  Middleton  which  followed 
his  find,  held  that  Shakespeare  borrowed  from  The  Witch, 
but  it  is  now  clear  that,  whatever  may  be  the  exact  date, 
Middleton  wrote  his  play  after  the  appearance  of  Macbeth ; 
besides,  in  other  plays  he  unmistakably  imitates  Shakespeare. 
The  theory  of  collaboration  is  untenable.  The  views  of  those 
who  hold  the  '  interpolation '  theory  may  be  summarized 
thus  :  Middleton's  own  play  being  unsuccessful,  as  he  admits, 
except  probably  in  the  lyrical  passages,  he  was  employed 
by  the  Blackfriars  management  to  add  to  Shakespeare's  suc- 
cessful play  and  develop  the  musical  and  spectacular  fea- 
tures to  suit  the  growing  popular  demand  for  this  sort  of 
thing.  Of  these  '  interpolated'  passages,  the  most  important 
are:  I,  ii;  iii,  1-37;  II,  iii  (Porter's  part);  III,  v;  IV,  i, 
39-47.  125-132;  iii,  140-159;  V,  ii;  v,  47~5°;  viii, 
32~33>  3S~75-  "This  theory  of  interpolation  must  be 
considered  as  in  a  high  degree  doubtful."  —  Dowden. 

V.  VERSIFICATION  AND    DICTION 

BLANK  VERSE 

The  greater  part  of  Macbeth  is  in  blank  verse  —  the  un- 
rhymed,  iambic  five-stress  (decasyllabic)  verse,  or  iambic 
pentameter,  introduced  into  England  from  Italy  by  Henry 
Howard,  Earl  of  Surrey,  about  1540,  and  used  by  him  in  a 
translation  of  the  second  and  fourth  books  of  Vergil's  ALneid. 
Nicholas  Grimald  (Totters  Miscellany,  1557)  employed  the 
measure  for  the  first  time  in  English  original  poetry,  and 
its  roots  began  to  strike  deep  into  British  soil  and  absorb 


xxxiv    THE   NEW  HUDSON    SHAKESPEARE 

substance.  It  is  peculiarly  significant  that  Sackville  and 
Norton  should  have  used  it  as  the  measure  of  Gorboduc, 
the  first  English  tragedy  (performed  by  "  the  Gentlemen  of 
the  Inner  Temple  "  on  January  18,  1561,  and  first  printed  in 
1565).  About  the  time  when  Shakespeare  arrived  in  London 
the  infinite  possibilities  of  blank  verse  as  a  vehicle  for 
dramatic  poetry  and  passion  were  being  shown  by  Kyd  and 
above  all  by  Marlowe.  Blank  verse  as  used  by  Shakespeare 
is  really  an  epitome  of  the  development  of  the  measure  in 
connection  with  the  English  drama.  In  his  earlier  plays  the 
blank  verse  is  often  similar  to  that  of  Gorboduc.  The  tend- 
ency is  to  adhere  to  the  syllable-counting  principle,  to  make 
the  line  the  unit,  the  sentence  and  phrase  coinciding  with 
the  line  (end-stopped  verse),  and  to  use  five  perfect  iambic 
feet  to  the  line.  In  plays  of  the  middle  period,  such  as  The 
Merchant  of  Venice  and  As  You  Like  It,  written  between 
1596  and  1600,  the  blank  verse  is  more  like  that  of  Kyd 
and  Marlowe,  with  less  monotonous  regularity  in  the  struc- 
ture and  an  increasing  tendency  to  carry  on  the  sense  from 
one  line  to  another  without  a  syntactical  or  rhetorical  pause 
at  the  end  of  the  line  (run-on  verse,  enjambemenf).  Redun- 
dant syllables  now  abound  and  the  melody  is  richer  and 
fuller.  In  Shakespeare's  later  plays  the  blank  verse  breaks 
away  from  bondage  to  formal  line  limits,  and  sweeps  all 
along  with  it  in  freedom,  power,  and  organic  unity. 

Macbeth  has  a  greater  number  of  regular  five-stress  (pen- 
tameter) unrhymed  lines  l  than  is  usual  in  a  later  play  ;  but 

1  For  perfect  examples  of  such  normal  lines  see  I,  ii,  I ;  iii,  38 ; 
II,  i,  35.  The  play  contains  28  Alexandrines,  21  light  endings,  78 
feminine  mid-line  syllables,  and  97  short  lines.  There  are  only  2  weak 
endings. 


INTRODUCTION  xxxv 

stress  modifications  of  all  kinds,  Alexandrines,  light  endings, 
feminine  mid-line  syllables,  and  other  variations  and  devia- 
tions from  the  norm  give  to  the  verse,  with  all  its  singular 
compactness  of  idiomatic  expression,  a  rich  music  and  a 
superb  movement,  epical  as  well  as  dramatic.1 

RHYME 

1.  Couplets.    Macbeth  has  108  lines  of  rhymed  pentam- 
eter verse  (rhymed  couplets),  an  unusually  large  number 
for  a  later  play  and  one  that  contains  only  2108  lines.3 
Rhyme-tags,  or  couplets  at  the  end  of  scenes  and  acts  (see 
Abbott,  §  5 1 5),  are  especially  numerous.    "  In  this  play  more 
scenes  end  with  tags  than  in  any  other  play  in  Shakespeare ; 
the  number  of  tag-rhymes  is  also  greater  than  in  any  other 
play,  including  his  very  earliest."  —  Fleay.    Those  who  be- 
lieve in  the  Middleton  influence  read  Middleton's  heavy 
hand  in  this  extraordinary  prevalence  of  rhymed  couplets. 

2.  Witch  Scenes.   The  dominant  measure  in  the  speeches 
of  the  Weird  Sisters  is  four-stress  (tetrameter)  trochaic  verse 
catalectic  —  a  rhythm  often  adopted  by  Shakespeare.    Cf. 
Orlando's  verses  in  praise  of  Rosalind,  and  Touchstone's 
'  false  gallop '  in  As  You  Like  It;  Autolycus's  song  in  The 
Winter's  Tale,  IV,  iv,  220,  etc.   But  in  Macbeth  the  trochaic 
movement  in  the  tetrameter  is  freer  than  in   any  other 
Shakespeare  play,  being  varied  by  the  introduction  of  three- 
stress  lines,  of  iambic  five-stresses,  and  very  frequently  of 
inversions   of   stress.    The   speeches   of   Hecate   and   the 

i 

1  Cf.  J.  A.  Symonds's  Blank  Verse,  page  58. 

2  Macbeth  is  the  shortest  of  Shakespeare's  plays,  with  the  excep- 
tion of  The  Comedy  of  Errors  (1778  lines)  and  The  Tempest  (2065 
lines). 


xxxvi     THE   NEW  HUDSON  SHAKESPEARE 

First  Witch  in  III,  v,  and  in  IV,  i,  39-43,  125-132,  are  in 
iambic  verse,  and  this  fact  has  been  used  to  strengthen  the 
arguments  against  the  Shakespearian  authorship  of  these 
passages. 

PROSE 

In  the  development  of  the  English  drama  the  use  of  prose 
as  a  vehicle  of  expression  entitled  to  equal  rights  with  verse 
was  due  to  Lyly.  He  was  the  first  to  use  prose  with  power  and 
distinction  in  original  plays,  and  did  memorable  service  in 
preparing  the  way  for  Shakespeare's  achievement.  Interest- 
ing attempts  have  been  made  to  explain  Shakespeare's  dis- 
tinctive use  of  verse  and  prose;  and  of  recent  years  there  has 
been  much  discussion  of  the  question  "whether  we  are  jus- 
tified in  supposing  that  Shakespeare  was  guided  by  any  fixed 
principle  in  his  employment  of  verse  and  prose,  or  whether 
he  merely  employed  them,  as  fancy  suggested,  for  the  sake 
of  variety  and  relief."  l  It  is  a  significant  fact  that  in  many 
of  his  earlier  plays  there  is  little  or  no  prose,  and  that  the 
proportion  of  prose  to  blank  verse  increases  with  the  de- 
crease of  rhyme.  In  Macbeth  four  kinds  of  prose  may  be 
distinguished:  (i)  The  prose  of  formal  documents,  as  in 
Macbeth's  letter  to  Lady  Macbeth  (I,  v).  In  Shakespeare 
prose  is  the  usual  medium  for  letters,  proclamations,  and 
other  formal  documents.  (2)  The  prose  of  'low  life'  and 
the  speech  of  comic  characters,  as  in  the  Porter  scene  (II,  iii). 

1  Professor  J.  Churton  Collins's  Shakespeare  as  a  Prose  Writer. 
See  Delius's  Die  Prosa  in  Shakespeares  Dramen  (Shakespeare  Jahr- 
buch,  V,  227-273)  ;  Janssen's  Die  Prosa  in  Shakespeares  Dramen; 
Professor  Hiram  Corson's  An  Introduction  to  the  Study  of  Shake 
Speare,  pp.  83-98. 


INTRODUCTION  xxxvii 

This  is  a  development  of  the  humorous  prose  found,  foi 
example,  in  Greene's  comedies  that  deal  with  country  life. 
(3)  The  colloquial  prose  of  simple  dialogue,  as  in  the  talk 
between  Lady  Macduff  and  her  little  boy  (IV,  ii),  and  in  the 
conversation  of  the  Doctor  and  the  Gentlewoman  (V,  i).  In 
both  these  passages,  as  in  the  Porter  scene,  the  prose  dic- 
tion gives  temporary  emotional  relief  and  prepares  for  the 
heightening  of  the  dramatic  pitch  in  the  scenes  which  imme- 
diately follow.  (4)  The  prose  of  abnormal  mentality,  as  in 
the  sleep-walking  scene  (V,  i).  It  is  an  interesting  fact  that 
Shakespeare  should  so  often  make  persons  whose  state  of 
mind  is  abnormal,  or  seemingly  so,  speak  in  prose.1  "The 
idea  underlying  this  custom  of  Shakespeare's  evidently  is 
that  the  regular  rhythm  of  verse  would  be  inappropriate 
where  the  mind  is  supposed  to  have  lost  its  balance  and  to 
be  at  the  mercy  of  chance  impressions  coming  from  without 
(as  sometimes  with  Lear)  or  of  ideas  emerging  from  its  un- 
conscious depths  and  pursuing  one  another  across  its  passive 
surface.  The  somnambulism  of  Lady  Macbeth  is  such  a 
condition.  .  .  .  This  language  (i.e.  Lady  Macbeth's  in  prose) 
stands  in  strong  contrast  with  that  of  Macbeth  in  the  sur- 
rounding scenes,  full  of  a  feverish  and  almost  furious  excite- 
ment, and  .seems  to  express  a  far  more  desolating  misery." 
—  A.  C.  Bradley.  In  previous  editions  of  Hudson's  Shake- 
speare the  suggestion  was  made  that  the  matter  in  the  sleep- 
walking scene  is  too  sublime,  too  austerely  grand,  to  admit 
of  anything  so  artificial  as  the  measured  language  of  verse, 
even  though  the  verse  were  Shakespeare's  ;  and  that  the  poet, 
as  from  an  instinct  of  genius,  saw  or  felt  that  any  attempt 

1  Cf.  Hamlet,  II,  ii,  171-221  ;  IV,  v,  172-186;  Lear,  III,  iv,  51- 
64,  etc. 


xxxviii  THE   NEW  HUDSON    SHAKESPEARE 

• 
to  heighten  the  effect  by  any  such  arts  or  charms  of  deliver} 

would  unbrace  and  impair  it.    Is  prose  then,  after  all,  a 
higher  form  of  speech  than  verse? 

VI.    DRAMATIC   STRUCTURE 

In  regularity  of  construction  and  in  symmetrical  develop  • 
ment  of  plot,  Macbeth  and  Julius  Cczsar  are  unsurpassed 
among  Shakespeare's  plays.  The  individual  act-structure  in 
both  plays  is  as  compact  and  effective  as  the  structure  of 
the  drama  as  a  whole.1  Neither  play  has  a  complicating 
underplot ;  every  incident  and  every  speech  is  inextricably 
bound  up  with  the  central  personality.  In  both  plays  the  set- 
ting of  scenery  and  the  accessories  of  supernatural  phenom- 
ena harmonize  subtly  with  incident  and  characterization. 

Macbeth  is  a  romantic  tragedy  in  which  is  represented  a 
conflict  between  an  individual,  or,  as  in  this  play,  two  per- 
sons acting  together  as  one  protagonist,  and  certain  forces 
which  environ,  antagonize,  and  overwhelm.  In  such  a  drama 
are  five  essential  elements  :  (i)  the  exposition  or  intro- 
duction; (2)  the  complication  or  rising  action;  (3)  the 
climax  or  turning  point ;  (4)  the  resolution  or  falling  action  ; 
and  (5)  the  catastrophe  or  conclusion.2  In  Macbeth,  as  in 
Shakespeare's  other  plays,  the  organic  elements  in  the  action 
do  not  correspond  exactly  to  the  mechanical  division  into 
acts.  The  exposition  is  contained  in  the  first  two  scenes ; 

1  Macbeth,  IV,  iii,  and  Julius  C&sar,  IV,  iii,  have  been  censured 
for  being  too  episodical,  but  the  '  suspensive  plot '  theory  is  surely 
sufficient  justification. 

2  Cf.  Freytag's  Technik  des  Dramas,  Leipzig.    A  useful  little  book 
on  the  subject  is  Elisabeth  Woodbridge's  The  Drama  ;  its  Law  and 
its  Technique. 


INTRODUCTION  xxxix 

• 

the  complication  begins  with  the  meeting  of  Macbeth  and 
the  Weird  Sisters  and  continues  until  the  climax  is  reached 
in  the  murder  of  Banquo  in  the  third  scene  of  the  third  act 
The  beginning  of  the  resolution  is  usually  in  the  closest 
union  with  the  climax,  and  the  announcement  by  the  Third 
Murderer  that  Fleance  has  escaped  is  incorporated  with  the 
Banquo  murder  scene.  From  the  escape  of  Fleance,  on 
through  the  banquet  scene,  the  arousing  of  Macduff,  and  the 
retreat  to  Dunsinane,  the  fortunes  of  Macbeth  and  Lady 
Macbeth  fall  to  the  catastrophe. 

ANALYSIS  BY  ACT  AND  SCENE  l 

I.  THE  EXPOSITION,  OR  INTRODUCTION  (TYING  OF  THE  KNOT) 

Act  /,  Scene  i.  The  Witches  are  introduced  in  a  desert  place  to  the 
accompaniment  of  a  storm  in  the  physical  world.  The  key-note  of 
high  tragic  drama  is  struck  at  once.  Like  a  prologue  this  brief  scene 
foreshadows  the  moral  and  cosmic  significance  of  an  impending 
struggle  in  which  Macbeth  is  involved  (line  7). 

Act  /,  Scene  it.  Interest  in  Macbeth  before  he  appears  is  deepened 
by  narratives  of  his  personal  courage  and  military  prowess.  His 
success  in  battle  with  rebellion  and  invasion  wins  the  favor  of  the 
king,  who  bestows  on  him  in  absence  the  title  forfeited  by  the 
treacherous  thane  of  Cawdor.  This  gift  becomes  an  impulse  towards 
Macbeth's  own  criminal  '  enterprise  '  (cf.  I,  vii,  48)  and  carries  with 
it  a  foreboding  of  his  own  treason  (cf.  I,  iii,  116-117). 

Act  f,  Scene  iii,  1-47.  With  the  introduction  of  Macbeth  the  dra- 
matic exposition  is  complete.  For  the  significance  of  Macbeth's 
first  words,  see  note,  line  38. 

1  "  It  must  be  understood  that  a  play  can  be  analyzed  into  very 
different  schemes  of  plot.  It  must  not  be  thought  that  one  of  these 
schemes  is  right  and  the  rest  wrong ;  but  the  schemes  will  be  better 
or  worse  in  proportion  as  —  while  of  course  representing  correctly 
the  facts  of  the  play  —  they  bring  out  more  or  less  of  what  ministers 
to  our  sense  of  design." —  Moulton. 


xl  THE  NEW  HUDSON  SHAKESPEARE 

II.  THE  COMPLICATION,  RISING  ACTION,  OR  GROWTH  (TYING  OF 
THE  KNOT) 

Act  I,  Scene  in,  47-156.  The  greetings  of  the  Witches  furnish  the 
exciting  force  of  the  drama,  and  the  complication,  or  rising  action, 
begins.  The  'supernatural  soliciting'  (line  130)  stimulates  the  guilty 
brooding  of  Macbeth  ;  he  mutters  to  himself  of  '  horrible  imagin- 
ings'  (line  138)  and  murder;  and  this,  the  temptation  scene,  closes 
with  his  determination  to  seek  the  king. 

Act  /,  Scene  iv.  The  king's  announcement  that  Malcolm  will  be 
his  successor  determines  in  a  general  way  Macbeth's  '  black  and 
deep  desires'  (line  51).  The  king  resolves  to  honor  Macbeth  by  a 
visit  to  his  castle.  The  w*ay  is  prepared  for  a  line  of  action  by 
Macbeth  and  for  the  introduction  of  Lady  Macbeth.  The  king's 
graciousness  and  trust  are  in  ironical  contrast  to  Macbeth's  dark 
hopes  and  sinister  designs  (cf.  note,  lines  13—14). 

Act  I,  Scene  v.  In  her  quivering  ambition  for  her  husband's  advance- 
ment, Lady  Macbeth  sees  in  the  king's  visit  a  chance  "to  catch  the 
nearest  way"  (line  16).  She  starts  Macbeth's  treacherous  purposes 
into  a  course  of  immediate  action,  and  'this  night's  great  business' 
(line  66)  is  outlined  ominously.  The  nervous  tension  of  her  soliloquy 
(lines3o-42)  prepares  for  the  effects  of  the  reaction  as  revealed  in  V,i. 

Act  I,  Scene  vi.  Dramatic  irony  and  the  irony  of  situation  (cf. 
note,  I,  iv,  13-14)  prevail  in  this  brief  scene  (cf.  notes,  lines  1-3,  20). 
The  castle,  with  its  air  of  peace  and  security,  is  a  death  trap;  the 
gracious  mistress  is  an  instigator  of  treason  and  murder. 

Act  I,  Scene  vii.  Macbeth's  soliloquy,  with  its  vision  of  the  evil 
consequences  of  the  bloody  deed,  foreshadows  all  that  comes  in  the 
falling  action  of  the  play.  His  faltering  calls  forth  the  energy  and 
spirit  of  Lady  Macbeth,  who  nerves  him  to  the  deed. 

Act  II,  Scene  i.  The  scene  opens  in  an  atmosphere  of  agitation 
and  dread.  Banquo's  anxiety  expresses  itself  irt  short,  tense  sen- 
tences relating  to  the  time  of  night  (cf.  Hamlet,  I,  i,  1-14).  In  a  few 
words  with  Macbeth  he  shows  that  his  suspicions  are  awakened. 
Left  alone,  Macbeth  has  a  vision  of  a  bloody  dagger,  and  then  the 
bell,  Lady  Macbeth's  signal  for  the  murder,  sounds. 

Act  II,  Scene  it.  As  often  in  Greek  tragedy,  the  murder  is  not 
presented  on  the  stage,  but  it  is  suggested  with  all  the  accessories  of 


INTRODUCTION  xli 

horror  in  Lady  Macbeth's  soliloquy  and  her  comments  to  Macbeth 
when  he  returns.  Her  strength  of  mind  and  her  self-control  come 
not  from  heartlessness  but  from  a  will  steeled  to  help  her  husband. 
Before  the  scene  closes  the  guilty  pair  are  startled  by  a  knocking  at 
the  gate  ;  and  it  is  dramatically  effective  that  one  of  the  men  knock- 
ing is  the  destined  instrument  of  vengeance  (cf.  note,  line  57). 

Act  II,  Scene  Hi.  The  humorous  soliloquy  in  prose  with  which 
the  scene  opens  is  a  notable  example  of  dramatic  contrast.  The 
realism  and  verisimilitude  suggest  how  abnormal  the  conditions  are 
through  which  the  action  has  been  passing.  In  the  mechanism  of 
stage  production  this  interlude  allows  Macbeth  and  Lady  Macbeth 
time  to  prepare  for  the  discovery  of  the  murder.  When  Macduff 
raises  the  alarm,  Macbeth  rushes  in  and  rashly  murders  the  drugged 
grooms,  who  were  to  be  charged  with  the  king's  death,  and  thus  he 
ruins  the  original  plan  made  by  Lady  Macbeth.  She  swoons  when 
she  hears  what  he  has  done  (cf.  note,  line  112).  The  king's  sons 
suspect  Macbeth  and  take  refuge  in  flight. 

A<t  II,  Scene  iv.  After  the  rush  of  tragic  incident  this  calm  scene 
gives  relief  and  perspective.  In  quiet  talk,  as  in  a  Chorus  speech, 
the  immediate  after  effects  of  the  occurrences  are  revealed.  The 
flight  of  the  king's  sons  has  put  "  upon  them  suspicion  of  the  deed  " 
(lines  26-27) ;  Macbeth  has  "gone  to  Scone  to  be  invested"  (lines 
31-32)  as  king. 

Act  III,  Scene  i.  In  an  opening  soliloquy  Banquo  makes  clear  the 
menace  he  is  to  Macbeth  and  thus  motives  his  own  death.  He  holds 
the  threads  which  connect  Macbeth  with  the  murder  of  Duncan ; 
the  Witches  prophesied  that  his  own  offspring  should  sit  on  the 
throne.  Macbeth  reveals  his  uneasiness,  and,  to  end  the  torture  of 
suspense,  hastily  arranges  for  the  '  taking  off'  of  Banquo  and  his  son. 

Act  1 77,  Scene  ii.  Lady  Macbeth  begins  to  feel  remorse.  "Nought's 
had,  all 's  spent "  (line  4)  is  a  note  of  deepest  melancholy.  Her  hus- 
band is  less  with  her  than  before;  the  copartnership  of  guilt  is 
breaking  up.  She  conceals  her  feelings  when  Macbeth  appears, 
flushed  with  his  new  scheme  of  murder.  He  hints  of  a  '  deed  of 
dreadful  note '  (line  44)  that  is  to  be  done  that  night.  This  half 
confidence  enables  her  to  play  her  part  in  the  crisis  of  the  banquet 
scene. 


xlii  THE  NEW  HUDSON  SHAKESPEARE 

III.  THE  CLIMAX,  CRISIS,  OR  TURNING  POINT  (THE  KNOT  TIED) 
Act  III,  Scene  Hi,  /-/<?.    Banquo  is  murdered,  and  this  murder 

marks  the  height  of  Macbeth's  success.  From  the  entrance  of  the 
exciting  force  in  his  interview  with  the  Witches  until  now  the  action 
has  been  a  steady  rise  for  him  in  power  and  reach. 

IV.  THE  RESOLUTION,  FALLING  ACTION,  OR  CONSEQUENCE  (THE 

UNTYING  OF  THE  KNOT) 

Act  III,  Scene  Hi,  19-22.  With  the  escape  of  Fleance  begins  the 
falling  action  of  the  drama.  Though  he  is  not  used  again  as  an  agent, 
his  escape  symbolizes  the  turn  of  Macbeth's  fortune.  Macbeth's 
doom  now  darkens  down,  scene  by  scene,  to  the  denouement. 

Act  III,  Scene  iv.  '  That  Fleance  is  scap'd '  is  told  to  Macbeth 
as  the  banquet  scene  opens.  He  is  uneasy,  and  for  him  at  the  feast 
the  apparition  of  murdered  Banquo  becomes  the  handwriting  on  the 
wall.  Superstitious  terrors  entangle  him  ;  he  "  will  tomorrow  ...  to 
the  weird  sisters"  (lines  133-134).  Macduff's  absence  from  the 
banquet  is  referred  to  as  significant. 

Act  III,  Scene  v.  In  the  rising  action  Macbeth  entered  into  al- 
liance with  the  Witches  and  profited  by  their  patronage  ;  in  the  fall- 
ing action,  under  Hecate,  they  contrive  his  ruin. 

Act  III,  Scene  vi.  This  quiet  side-scene,  like  a  Chorus  speech 
(cf.  II,  iv),  supplies  comment  and  bridges  an  interval  of  time.  Mac- 
beth's conduct  as  king  is  making  him  suspected  and  detested  in 
Scotland.  Macduff  has  fled  to  England. 

Act  IV,  Scene  i.  Macbeth  meets  the  Witches  for  the  second  time. 
As  before,  they  act  as  an  exciting  force.  The  repetition  suggests  the 
inevitableness  of  destiny.  The  suggestions  and  ambiguous  oracles 
of  the  Witches  first  soothe  Macbeth  and  then  irritate  him.  His 
rapid  moral  deterioration  is  shown  in  the  purposeless  savagery  of 
his  scheme  to  massacre  Macduff's  wife  and  family. 

Act  IV,  Scene  it.  The  scene  has  dramatic  relief  in  the  sweetness, 
humor,  and  pathos  of  the  dialogue  between  Lady  Macduff  and  her 
little  son.  The  domestic  calm  is  broken  in  on  by  the  murderers. 
This  wanton  crime  becomes  the  exciting  cause  of  the  dramatic 
catastrophe.  It  causes  revolt  in  Scotland ;  it  awakes  Malcolm  and 
Macduff  to  immediate  revenge. 


INTRODUCTION  xliii 

Act  IV,  Scene  Hi.  This  long  scene  has  been  censured  for  its 
•dragging  '  tendency ;  but  the  slow  movement  represents  the  steady 
gathering  of  the  forces,  moral  and  material,  which  are  about  to  over- 
whelm Macbeth.  It  marks  the  pause  before  the  storm.  When  the 
news  of  his  loss  comes  to  Macduff,  the  emotion  of  tenderness  and 
pathos,  touched  in  the  preceding  scene,  is  intensified.  For  an  ex- 
planation of  the  seemingly  irrelevant  passage  on  '  the  evil,'  see  note, 
lines  146-159. 

Act  V,  Scene  i.  Lady  Macbeth's  brooding  remorse  (cf.  Ill,  ii)  has 
deepened  into  the  melancholy  of  a  disordered  brain.  In  her  delirium 
she  reproduces  the  murder  of  Duncan,  and  though  she  has  drifted 
apart  from  her  husband  into  a  solitude  of  guilty  fears,  she  mingles 
his  actions  with  her  own,  as  she  lays  bare  her  soul.  Her  memories 
and  imaginings  are  eating  away  her  life ;  her  death  '  by  self  and 
violent  hands '  (V,  viii,  70)  is  foreshadowed. 

Act  V,  Scene  ii.  The  action  of  the  drama  now  oscillates  between 
the  opposing  forces  and  Macbeth.  In  this  scene  the  Scottish  nobles 
and  their  followers  gather  to  join  Malcolm  and  the  English  army. 
They  "march  towards  Birnam  "  (line  31). 

Act  V,  Scene  in.  Macbeth  learns  of  the  forces  arrayed  against  him, 
and  he  is  told  that  Lady  Macbeth  is  ill.  As  he  expresses  his  sense  of 
utter  loneliness,  he  awakens  the  pity  due  to  a  hero  of  tragedy,  without 
disturbance  of  the  principles  of  justice  and  moral  retribution.  Then 
his  old  personal  courage  blazes  up  in  the  presence  of  pressing  danger. 

V.  DENOUEMENT,  CATASTROPHE,  OR  CONCLUSION  (THE  KNOT  UNTIED) 

Act  F,  Scene  iv.  As  the  Scottish  and  English  soldiers  march 
through  Birnam  wood,  they  lop  boughs  and  carry  them  to  confuse 
the  enemy.  Thus  begins  the  fulfilment  of  a  prediction  deemed  by 
Macbeth  impossible  (IV,  i,  92—100). 

Act  V,  Scene  v.  Macbeth  learns  that  Birnam  wood  is  moving  to 
Dunsinane,  and  '  the  cry  of  women '  (line  8)  tells  him  that  Lady 
Macbeth  is  dead.  Again  the  pathos  and  the  poetry  of  his  intensely 
human  cry  awaken  pity  without  interfering  with  the  rigorous  re- 
quirements of  moral  law. 

Act  V,  Scene  vi.  This  prelude  to  the  battle  reveals  the  spirit  of 
the  opposing  forces.  Battle  representations  were  popular  in  the 


xliv          THE  NEW  HUDSON  SHAKESPEARE 

Elizabethan  theatre,  and  the  stage  conditions  account  in  great  meas- 
ure for  such  short,  typical  scenes  as  this  and  the  two  which  follow. 

Act  V,  Scene  vii.  Macbeth,  with  hope  in  the  prediction  that  "  none 
of  woman  born  shall  harm  "  him  (IV,  i,  80-81),  fights  bravely  against 
desperate  odds  (cf.  note,  line  2). 

Act  y,  Scene  -viii.  Despising  a  temptation  to  commit  suicide, 
Macbeth  fights  on.  The  discovery  that  he  has  been  tricked  a  second 
time  by  an  ambiguous  oracle  of  the  'juggling  fiends'  (line  19),  and 
that  they  have  paltered  with  him  '  in  a  double  sense '  (line  20),  un- 
nerves him  for  a  moment,  but  he  recovers  himself  and  goes  to  his 
doom  with  a  speech  that  rings  of  heroic  freedom  and  satisfies  the 
demands  of  high  tragedy. 

VII.    MANAGEMENT   OF  TIME   AND    PLACE 

The  historic  succession  of  events  comprised  in  Macbeth 
covers  nearly  twenty  years.  This  period  includes  the  time 
of  "  the  warres  that  Duncane  had  with  forrayne  enemies  in 
the  seventh  yeare  of  his  raigne,"  the  year  of  Duncan's  death 
and  Macbeth's  coronation,  and  the  seventeen  years  of  Mac- 
beth's  reign  from  his  accession  in  1040  to  his  defeat  and 
death  in  1057  at  the  hands  of  Malcolm,  "probably  in  open 
fight  at  Lumphanan  in  Aberdeenshire." — Hume  Brown. 
These  historic  happenings  are  represented  in  the  stage  action 
as  the  occurrences  of  nine  days,  separated  by  uncertain  in- 
tervals of  time  of  not  more  than  a  few  months  at  most ; a 
but,  as  we  read  or  listen,  it  seems  all  only  a  matter  of  a  few 
hours.  In  the  second  scene  of  the  first  act  four  battles 
recorded  by  Holinshed  are  rolled  into  one.  Everywhere 

1  P.  A.  Daniel's  time-analysis  is  :  ist  day,  I,  i-iii.  2d  day,  I,  iv- 
vii.  3d  day,  II,  i-iv.  Interval  of  about  two  weeks.  4th  day,  III, 
i-v.  (Ill,  vi,  an  impossible  time.)  5th  day,  IV,  i.  6th  day.  IV,  ii. 
Interval  (Ross's  journey  to  England).  7th  day,  IV,  iii ;  V,  i.  Interval 
(Malcolm's  return  to  Scotland).  8th  day,  V,  ii-iii.  gth  day,  V,  iv-viii. 


INTRODUCTION  xlv 

there  is  similar  compression  and  dramatic  economy.  So 
with  place ;  the  scene  may  shift  from  Forres  to  Inverness, 
from  Macduff's  castle  to  England,  and  from  England  to 
Dunsinane  and  the  north  again,  but  the  unity  and  the  con- 
tinuity of  perfect  verisimilitude  are  secured  in  a  convincing, 
effective  plot.  The  genius  of  the  great  dramatist  breaks 
down  the  barriers  of  mere  locality.  With  him  the  years  are 
as  one  day ;  he  is  in  the  divine  secret  of  time  and  of  space. 

VIII.  -THE   CHARACTERS 

THE  WEIRD  SISTERS  l 

"  The  Weird  Sisters,"  says  Coleridge,  "  are  as  true  a  crea- 
tion of  Shakespeare's  as  his  Ariel  and  Caliban, — fates,  furies, 
and  materializing  witches  being  the  elements.  They  are 
wholly  different  from  any  representation  of  witches  in  the 
contemporary  writers,  and  yet  presented  a  sufficient  ex- 
ternal resemblance  to  the  creatures  of  vulgar  prejudice  to 
act  immediately  on  the  audience."  Charles  Lamb,  also, 
referring  to  the  witches  of  Rowley  and  of  Dekker  says : 
"They  are  the  plain,  traditional,  old-woman  witches  of  our 
ancestors,  —  poor,  deformed,  and  ignorant,  the  terror  of 
villages,  —  themselves  amenable  to  a  justice.  That  should 
be  a  hardy  sheriff,  with  the  power  of  the  county  at  his  heels, 
that  should  lay  hands  on  the  Weird  Sisters.  They  are  of 
another  jurisdiction." 

1  An  interesting  analysis  of  the  Weird  Sisters  is  in  Professor  Tol- 
man's  '  Studies  in  Macbeth '  in  The  Views  about  Hamlet  and  other 
Essays.  There  he  says,  "  Strangely  enough  the  word  '  weird '  has 
come  into  modern  English  entirely  from  its  use  in  Macbeth."  Cf. 
note,  page  13,  line  32. 


xlvi          THE  NEW  HUDSON  SHAKESPEARE 

The  old  witches  of  superstition  were  foul,  ugly,  mischie- 
vous beings,  generally  actuated  by  vulgar  envy  or  hate  ;  not 
so  much  wicked  as  mean,  and  more  apt  to  excite  disgust 
than  to  inspire  terror  or  awe  ;  who  could  inflict  injury,  but 
not  guilt ;  and  could  work  men's  temporal  ruin,  but  not  win 
them  to  work  their  own  spiritual  ruin.  The  Weird  Sisters 
are  cast  in  quite  another  mould,  and  are  beholden  to  those 
old  witches  for  little  if  anything  more  than  the  drapery  of 
the  representation.  Resembling  old  women,  save  that  they 
have  long  beards,  they  bubble  up  in  human  shape,  but  own 
no  human  relations  ;  are  without  age,  or  sex,  or  kin  ;  with- 
out birth  or  death  ;  passionless  and  motiveless.  A  combi- 
nation of  the  terrible  and  the  grotesque,  unlike  the  Furies  of 
the  Greek  drama  they  are  petrific,  not  to  the  senses,  but  to 
the  thoughts.  At  first,  indeed,  on  merely  looking  at  them, 
we  can  scarce  help  laughing,  so  uncouth  and  grotesque  is 
their  appearance  ;  but  afterwards,  on  looking  into  them,  we 
find  them  terrible  beyond  description  :  and  the  more  we 
look,  the  more  terrible  do  they  become,  the  blood  almost 
curdling  in  our  veins  as,  dancing,  and  singing  their  infernal 
glees  over  embryo  murders,  they  unfold  to  our  thoughts  the 
cold,  passionless,  inexhaustible  malignity  and  deformity  of 
their  nature.  Towards  Macbeth  they  have  nothing  of  per- 
sonal hatred  or  revenge  ;  their  malice  is  of  a  higher  strain, 
and  savors  as  little  of  any  such  human  ranklings  as  the 
thunderstorms  and  elemental  perturbations  amidst  which 
they  come  and  go.  Coleridge  describes  their  character  as 
"  consisting  in  the  imaginative  disconnected  from  the  good"  ; 
but  with  all  their  essential  wickedness,  the  Weird  Sisters 
have  nothing  gross  or  vulgar  or  sensual  about  them.  "  Fair 
is  foul,  and  foul  is  fair,"  to  them,  by  constitution  of  nature: 


INTRODUCTION  xlvi) 

darkness  is  their  light,  storms  their  sunshine,  tumults, 
terrors,  hideous  rites,  and  Satanic  liturgies  their  religion. 
They  are  indeed  the  very  purity  of  sin  incarnate ;  the  vestal 
virgins,  so  to  speak,  of  hell;  in  whom  everything  is  re- 
versed ;  whose  ascent  is  downwards ;  whose  proper  eucharist 
is  a  sacrament  of  evil;  and  the  law  of  whose  being  is  viola- 
tion of  law ! 

But  is  there  anything  of  permanent  truth  in  the  matter 
of  the  Weird  Sisters?  and,  if  so,  what?  These  are  ques- 
tions that  may  fairly  claim  to  be  considered  in  any  attempt 
to  interpret  the  drama. 

Probably  no  form  of  superstition  ever  prevailed  to  much 
extent  but  that  it  had  a  ground  and  principle  of  truth. 
The  old  system  of  witchcraft  was  an  embodiment  of  some 
natural  law,  a  local  and  temporary  outgrowth  from  some- 
thing as  general  and  permanent  as  human  nature.  Our 
moral  being  must  breathe;  and  therefore,  in  default  of 
other  provision,  it  puts  forth  some  such  arrangement  of 
breathing-organs  spontaneously,  just  as  a  tree  puts  forth 
leaves.  The  point  of  art  then,  in  the  case  before  us,  was  to 
raise  and  transfigure  the  literal  into  the  symbolical ;  to  take 
the  body,  so  brittle  and  perishable  in  itself,  and  endow  it 
with  immortality;  which  could  be  done  only  by  filling  and 
animating  it  with  the  efficacy  of  imperishable  truth.  Accord- 
ingly Shakespeare  took  enough  of  current  and  traditionary 
matter  to  enlist  old  credulity  in  behalf  of  agents  suited  to 
his  peculiar  purpose;  he  represented  to  the  age  its  own 
thoughts,  and  at  the  same  time  informed  that  representation 
with  a  moral  significance  suited  to  all  ages  alike.  In  The 
Witch  of  Middleton  we  have  the  literal  form  of  a  transient 
superstition ;  in  Macbeth  that  form  is  made  the  transparent 


xlviii       THE  NEW  HUDSON  SHAKESPEARE 

vehicle  of  a  truth  coeval  and  coextensive  with  the  workings 
of  human  guilt.  In  their  literal  character  the  Weird  Sisters 
answer  to  something  that  was,  and  is  not ;  in  their  symbol- 
ical character  they  answer  to  something  that  was,  and  is, 
and  will  abide ;  for  they  represent  the  mysterious  action  and 
reaction  between  the  evil  mind  and  external  nature. 

For  the  external  world  serves  in  some  sort  as  a  looking- 
glass  wherein  we  behold  the  image  of  our  inner  man ;  and 
the  evil  suggestions,  which  seem  to  us  written  in  the  face  or 
speaking  from  the  mouth  of  outward  objects  and  occasions, 
are  in  reality  but  projections  from  our  own  evil  hearts.  In 
a  moral  sense,  the  world  around  us  only  gives  us  back  our- 
selves ;  its  aspect  is  but  a  reflection  of  what  we  bring  to  it; 
so  that,  if  the  things  we  look  on  seem  inviting  us  to  crime, 
it  is  only  because  our  depraved  lusts  and  most  frail  affections 
construe  their  innocent  meanings  into  wicked  invitations. 

In  the  spirit  and  virtue  of  this  principle  the  Weird  Sis- 
ters symbolize  the  inward  moral  history  of  each  and  every 
man  ;  and  therefore  they  may  be  expected  to  live  in  the 
faith  of  reason  so  long  as  the  present  moral  order  or 
disorder  of  things  shall  last.  They  may  be  aptly  enough 
described  as  poetical  or  mythical  impersonations  of  evil 
influences.  They  body  forth  in  living  forms  the  fearful 
echo  which  the  natural  world  gives  back  to  the  evil  that 
speaks  out  from  the  human  heart.  And  the  secret  of  their 
power  over  Macbeth  lies  mainly  in  that  they  present  to  him 
his  embryo  wishes  and  half-formed  thoughts.  At  one  time 
they  harp  his  fear  aright,  at  another  his  hope,  —  and  this, 
too,  before  his  hope  and  fear  have  distinctly  reported  them- 
selves in  his  consciousness,  —  and,  by  thus  harping  them, 
nurse  them  into  purpose  and  draw  them  into  act;  as  men 


INTRODUCTION  xlix 

often  know  they  would  something,  yet  know  not  clearly 
what  they  would,  till  an  articulation  of  it,  or  what  seems 
such,  comes  to  them  from  without.  For  so  we  are  naturally 
made  conscious  of  what  is  within  us  by  the  shadow  it  casts 
in  the  light  of  occasion  ;  and  therefore  it  is  that  trials  and  op- 
portunities have  such  an  effect  in  revealing  us  to  ourselves. 

THE  WEIRD  SISTERS  AND  MACBETH 

The  office  of  the  Weird  Sisters  is  not  so  much  to  deprave 
as  to  develop  the  characters  whereon  they  act.  They  do 
not  create  the  evil  heart ;  they  only  untie  the  evil  hands. 
They  put  nothing  into  Macbeth's  mind,  but  merely  draw 
out  what  was  already  there ;  breathing  fructification  upon 
his  indwelling  germs  of  sin,  and  thus  acting  as  mediators 
between  the  secret  upspringing  purpose  and  the  final  ac- 
complishment of  crime.  He  was  already  minded  to  act  as 
he  does,  only  something  was  needed  to  "  trammel  up  the 
consequence  ";  which,  in  his  apprehension,  is  just  what  the 
Weird  Sisters  do. 

Accordingly  it  well  appears  in  the  course  of  the  play 
that  the  thought  of  murdering  Duncan  is  by  no  means  new 
to  Macbeth.  As  the  Scottish  crown  was  elective  in  a  cer- 
tain line,  Macbeth's  claim  to  it  was  legally  as  good  as  Dun- 
can's till  the  vote  was  declared  ;  while  his  consciousness  of 
superior  fitness  for  the  office  might  naturally  have  filled  him 
with  high  expectations.  At  all  events,  it  is  plain  enough 
that  he  has  more  than  dallied  with  the  purpose  of  retriev- 
ing that  disappointment  by  crime ;  he  has  entertained  it 
seriously,  and  has  had  talks  with  his  wife  about  it,  she  no 
doubt  encouraging  him  in  it  with  all  her  fiery  vehemence 
of  spirit.  In  his  boldness  of  imagination  he  was  even  then 


1  THE  NEW  HUDSON  SHAKESPEARE 

ready  to  make  an  opportunity  for  the  deed;  and  it  is  a 
profound  stroke  of  nature  that,  when  the  opportunity  makes 
itself  to  his  hands,  its  effect  is  to  unman  him.  This  is  evi- 
dent from  his  wife's  stinging  reproaches  when  at  last  his 
resolution  falters  and  breaks  down  :  "  Was  the  hope  drunk 
wherein  you  dress'd  yourself?"  (I,  vii,  35-36)  —  "When 
you  durst  do  it,  then  you  were  a  man"  (I,  vii,  49);  and, 
"  Nor  time  nor  place  Did  then  adhere,  and  yet  you  would 
make  both  "  (I,  vii,  51-52).  These  plainly  refer  to  conver- 
sations they  have  had  on  the  subject. 

So  that  in  the  salutation  of  the  Weird  Sisters  Macbeth 
just  meets  with  an  external  temptation  to  that  which  he 
has  been  inwardly  tempted  or  instigated  to  before.  Yet  he 
cannot  all  at  once  rest  secure  in  the  thoughts  which  at  that 
prophetic  greeting  spring  up  within  him;  and  therefore  it 
is  that  he  "  burns  in  desire  to  question  them  further."  Fears 
and  scruples  as  to  the  consequence  still  shake  him  ;  a  gen- 
eral pledge  of  security  is  not  enough ;  he  craves  to  know 
further  how  and  whence  the  means  of  safety  are  to  come, 
his  faith  in  the  Weird  promise  not  being  strong  enough  at 
first  to  silence  the  warnings  of  experience,  reenforced  as 
these  are  by  the  instinctive  apprehensions  of  conscience  : 

But  in  these  cases 

We  still  have  judgment  here,  that  we  but  teach 
Bloody  instructions,  which,  being  taught,  return 
To  plague  th'  inventor:   this  even-handed  justice 
Commends  th'  ingredients  of  our  poison'd  chalice 
To  our  own  lips.    [I,  vii,  7-12.] 

It  is  wisely  ordered  that  the  Weird  Sisters  meet  Macbeth 
"  in  the  day  of  success,"  when  the  exultations  of  victory 
would  naturally  prompt  such  a  mind  as  his  to  catch  at 


INTRODUCTION  li 

ambitious  hopes.  And  "  the  early  birth-date  of  his  guilt " 
appears  in  that,  on  hearing  the  first  Weird  salutation,  he  is 
instantly  seized  with  a  kind  of  mental  delirium.  This  comes 
out  in  what  Banquo  says : 

Good  sir,  why  do  you  start,  and  seem  to  fear 

Things  that  do  sound  so  fair  ?  —  I'  the  name  of  truth, 

Are  ye  fantastical,  or  that  indeed 

Which  outwardly  ye  show  ?   My  noble  partner 

You  greet  with  present  grace  and  great  prediction 

Of  noble  having  and  of  royal  hope, 

That  he  seems  rapt  withal ;  to  me  you  speak  not. 

If  you  can  look  into  the  seeds  of  time, 

And  say  which  grain  will  grow  and  which  will  not, 

Speak,  then,  to  me,  who  neither  beg  nor  fear 

Your  favours  nor  your  hate.     [I,  iii,  51-61.] 

Macbeth's  behavior  as  here  indicated  is  profoundly 
symptomatic  of  his  moral  predispositions.  It  is  a  full  reve- 
lation of  his  criminal  aptitudes  that  so  startles  and  surprises 
him  into  a  rapture  of  meditation.  The  Weird  greeting  is  as 
a  spark  to  a  magazine  of  wickedness  in  him,  and  he  is  at 
once  seized  with  a  trance  of  terror  at  the  result : 

Between  the  acting  of  a  dreadful  thing 
And  the  first  motion,  all  the  interim  is 
Like  a  phantasma  or  a  hideous  dream: 
The  Genius  and  the  mortal  instruments 
Are  then  in  council ;  and  the  state  of  a  man, 
Like  to  a  little  kingdom,  suffers  then 
The  nature  of  an  insurrection. 

[Julius  C&sar,  II,  i,  63-69.] 

"So  surely,"  says  Coleridge,  "  is  the  guilt  in  its  germ  an- 
terior to  the  supposed  cause  and  immediate  temptation." 
Whether  the  Weird  Sisters  "look  into  the  seeds  of  time"  or 


Hi  THE  NEW  HUDSON  SHAKESPEARE 

not,  they  manifestly  look  into  the  seeds  of  Macbeth's  char- 
acter ;  and  they  drop  just  the  right  stuff  on  them  to  make 
them  sprout,  as  is  evident  from  the  fact  that  they  instantly 
do  sprout.  And  it  was  their  insight  of  the  unhatched  eggs 
of  evil  within  him,  that  drew  them  to  him.  It  seems  then 
clear  that  in  Shakespeare's  idea  Macbeth  already  had  the 
will,  and  that  what  he  wanted  further  was  but  an  earnest 
and  assurance  of  success.  The  ordering  of  things  so  as  to 
meet  that  want,  and  the  tracing  of  the  mental  processes 
and  the  subtle  workings  of  evil  consequent  thereon,  —  this 
it  is  that  renders  the  drama  such  a  paragon  of  ethical  mean- 
ing organized  into  art.  The  Weird  Sisters  rightly  strike  the 
key-note  and  lead  off  the  terrible  chorus,  because  they  em- 
body and  realize  to  us,  and  even  to  the  hero  himself,  that 
secret  preparation  of  evil  within  him  out  of  which  the  whole 
action  proceeds.  In  their  fantastical  and  unearthly  aspect^ 
awakening  mingled  emotions  of  terror  and  mirth ;  in  theii 
mysterious  reserve  and  oracular  brevity  of  speech,  so  fitted 
at  once  to  sharpen  curiosity  and  awe  down  skepticism ;  in 
the  circumstances  of  their  prophetic  greeting,  —  a  blasted 
heath,  with  the  elements  wrangling  over  it,  as  if  Nature  were 
at  odds  with  herself,  and  in  love  with  desolation ;  —  in  all 
this  we  may  discern  a  peculiar  aptness  to  generate,  even  in 
strong  minds,  a  belief  in  what  they  utter. 

MACBETH  AND  BAXQUO 

The  contrast  in  the  behavior  of   Macbeth  and  Banquo 
after  the  interview  with  the  Weird  Sisters  is  deeply  signifi- 
cant.   Belief  takes  hold  of  them  both  alike,  for  aught  that 
appears.     Yet,  while  Macbeth  is  beside  himself  with  excite 
ment,  and  transported  with  guilty  thoughts  and  imaginations 


INTRODUCTION  iiii 

Banquo  remains  calm,  unexcited,  and  perfectly  self-poised. 
His  intellectual  forces  are  indeed  stimulated  by  the  preter- 
natural address,  but  stimulated  only  to  moralize  the  occasion 
and  to  draw  arguments  in  support  of  his  better  mind.  He 
hears  the  speakers  with  simple  wonder;  shows  no  interest 
in  them  but  that  of  an  honest  and  rational  curiosity  ;  his 
mind  is  absorbed  in  the  matter  before  him  ;  and  because 
he  sees  nothing  of  himself  in  them,  and  has  no  germs  of 
wickedness  for  them  to  work  upon,  therefore  he  "  neither 
begs  nor  fears  their  favours  nor  their  hate."  Macbeth,  on 
the  contrary,  as  we  have  seen,  goes  off  in  a  trance  or  medi- 
tation, and  loses  what  is  before  him  in  a  stress  of  introver- 
sion :  roused  from  this,  he  is  eager  and  impatient  to  have 
them  speak  further,  and  his  heart  leaps  forth  to  catch  their 
words  ;  and  again,  when  his  ear  is  saluted  with  a  partial  ful- 
filment of  their  promise,  a  still  more  violent  fit  of  abstraction 
seizes  him,  his  very  senses  being  palsied  by  the  horrid  sug- 
gestion which  at  once  charms  and  terrifies  him,  and  which 
makes  him  shudder  simply  because  it  reveals  an  answering 
spirit  and  purpose  within  him.  That  which  so  entrances 
and  appalls  him  is  but  the  image  of  his  moral  self,  as  he  be- 
holds it  in  the  mirror  of  his  newly-awakened  consciousness. 
It  is  indeed  a  fearful  transpiration  of  character ! 

Macbeth  himself  never  thinks  of  making  the  Weird  Sisters 
anywise  responsible  for  what  he  does.  The  workings  of  his 
mind  throughout  manifestly  infer  that  he  feels  just  as  free 
in  his  actions  as  if  no  supernatural  soliciting  had  come  near 
him.  He  therefore  never  offers  to  soothe  his  conscience  or 
satisfy  his  reason  on  the  score  of  his  being  under  any  fatal 
charm  or  fascination  of  evil.  For,  in  truth,  the  promise  of 
the  throne  is  no  more  an  instigation  to  murder  for  it  than  a 


liv  THE  NEW  HUDSON  SHAKESPEARE 

promise  of  wealth  in  like  sort  would  be  to  steal.  To  a  truly 
honest  man,  such  a  promise,  in  so  far  as  he  believed  it, 
would  preclude  the  motives  to  theft.  His  thought  would  be, 
"Wealth  is  coming;  I  have  but  to  work,  and  let  it  come." 
If,  however,  he  were  already  a  thief  at  heart,  and  kept  from 
stealing  only  by  fear  of  the  consequences,  he  would  be  apt 
to  construe  the  promise  of  wealth  into  a  promise  of  impunity 
in  theft,  —  which  just  marks  the  difference  between  Banquo 
and  Macbeth.  What  with  the  one  precludes  the  motive  to 
crime,  with  the  other  itself  becomes  the  motive  to  crime. 

Banquo's  moral  reason,  indeed,  grows  more  vigilant  and 
discerning  for  the  temptations  laid  before  him ;  his  virtue, 
instead  of  being  staggered  by  them,  is  rendered  more  circum- 
spective and  firm  ;  he  disarms  or  repels  them  by  prayer ;  and 
the  more  they  press  upon  him,  the  more  he  prays  for  help 
against  them.  For  so  we  find  that  the  having  merely  dreamed 
of  the  Weird  Sisters  moves  him  to  exclaim,  "  Merciful  powers, 
Restrain  in  me  the  cursed  thoughts  that  nature  Gives  way  to 
in  repose  ! "  (II,  i,  7-9).  And  when  Macbeth,  on  hearing  of 
the  dream,  tries  to  draw  him  into  his  counsels,  telling  him 
"it  shall  make  honour  for  him,"  he  gives  the  prompt  reply  : 

So  I  lose  none 

In  seeking  to  augment  it,  but  still  keep 
My  bosom  franchis'd,  and  allegiance  clear, 
I  shall  be  counsell'd.    [II,  i,  26-29.] 

Nothing  could  better  approve  his  firmness  of  moral  tone. 

MACBETH 

Macbeth's  falterings  and  misgivings  spring  from  the 
peculiar  structure  of  his  intellect  as  inflamed  with  the  poison 
of  meditated  guilt.  His  understanding  and  imagination  rush 


INTRODUCTION  lv 

into  irregular,  convulsive  action ;  conscience  being  indeed 
the  main  cause  of  that  action,  yet  hiding  itself  in  the  agi- 
tations of  mind  which  it  stirs  up.  Thus  a  strange,  fearful 
hallucination,  all  begotten  of  guilt,  takes  possession  of  him. 
Hence  his  long  and  fatal  course  of  self-delusion.  He  has 
done  the  greatest  possible  violence  to  his  moral  nature,  and 
thereby  "  put  rancours  in  the  vessel  of  his  peace  " ;  but  the 
agonies  thence  resulting  he  still  misderives  from  external 
causes,  and  keeps  mistranslating  them  into  the  warnings  of 
prudence,  the  forecastings  of  reason,  and  the  threatenings 
of  danger.  His  strong  and  excitable  imagination,  set  on  fire 
of  conscience,  fascinates  and  spellbinds  his  other  faculties, 
and  so  gives  objectiveness  to  its  internal  workings.  His 
moral  forces  even  usurp  his  eyes  and  ears,  turning  them  into 
"  miraculous  organs,"  so  that  he  cannot  choose  but  see  and 
hear  things  that  are  not ;  as  in  case  of  "  the  air-drawn  dag- 
ger "  which  leads  him  to  Duncan,  and  the  cry  that  haunts 
him,  "Sleep  no  more  !  Macbeth  does  murder  sleep."  Thus 
his  conscience,  instead  of  acting  directly  in  the  form  of 
remorse,  comes  to  act  through  imaginary  terrors,  which  in 
turn  react  on  his  conscience,  as  fire  is  made  hotter  by  the 
current  of  air  which  itself  generates. 

It  is  probably  from  oversight  of  this  that  some  have  set 
Macbeth  down  as  a  timid,  cautious,  remorseless  villain,  with- 
held from  crime  only  by  a  shrinking,  selfish  apprehensive- 
ness.  He  does  indeed  seem  strangely  dead  to  the  guilt,  and 
morbidly  alive  to  the  dangers,  of  his  enterprise  ;  free  from 
remorses  of  conscience,  and  filled  with  imaginary  fears ; 
but  whence  his  uncontrollable  irritability  of  imagination? 
how  comes  it  that  his  mind  so  swarms  with  horrible  imagin- 
ings, but  that  his  imagination  itself  is  set  on  fire  of  hell? 


Ivi  THE  NEW  HUDSON   SHAKESPEARE 

Such  "paintings  of  fear,"  it  scarce  need  be  said,  are  not  the 
offspring  of  a  mind  in  which  the  moral  sense  is  weak  or 
dead ;  rather  they  attest  a  peculiar  strength  and  quickness 
in  that  sense.  Call  it  insanity,  if  you  will ;  but  it  is  an  in- 
sanity full  of  moral  inspiration.  And  what  a  lesson  does  it 
read  us  of  the  secret  possibilities  of  evil,  ay,  and  of  punish- 
ment too,  wrapped  up  in  the  moral  constitution  of  man ! 

It  is  a  natural  result  of  an  imagination  so  redundant  and 
excitable  as  Macbeth's  that  the  agonies  of  remorse  should 
project  and  embody  themselves  in  imaginary  terrors,  and  so 
spur  him  on  to  further  crimes  for  security  against  those  terrors. 
To  give  himself  peace,  he  must  still  keep  using  his  dagger ; 
and  yet  every  thrust  he  makes  with  it  stabs  a  new  wound  in 
his  own  soul.  Such  is  the  dreadful  madness  which  guilt  en- 
genders in  him  !  His  moral  forces,  indeed,  turn  to  a  down- 
right fury  and  venom  of  infatuation,  insomuch  that  he  boldly 
enters  the  lists  against  the  very  powers  in  which  he  trusted. 

All  this  comes  out  in  his  interview  with  Lady  Macbeth  on 
the  eve  of  Banquo's  murder  : 

We  have  scotch'd  the  snake,  not  kill'd  it : 

She'll  close  and  be  herself,  whilst  our  poor  malice 

Remains  in  danger  of  her  former  tooth. 

But  let  the  frame  of  things  disjoint,  both  the  worlds  suffer, 

Ere  we  will  eat  our  meal  in  fear,  and  sleep 

In  the  affliction  of  these  terrible  dreams 

That  shake  us  nightly :  better  be  with  the  dead, 

Whom  we,  to  gain  our  place,  have  sent  to  peace, 

Than  on  the  torture  of  the  mind  to  lie 

In  restless  ecstasy.     Duncan  is  in  his  grave ; 

After  life's  fitful  fever  he  sleeps  well; 

Treason  has  done  his  worst :  nor  steel,  nor  poison, 

Malice  domestic,  foreign  levy,  nothing. 

Can  touch  him  further.     [Ill,  ii,  13-26.] 


INTRODUCTION  Ivil 

Here  we  see  that  crime  has  filled  his  mind  with  scorpions, 
and  still  he  thinks  of  no  way  to  clear  them  out  but  by  crime. 
And  the  thought  of  Duncan  instantly  charms  him  into  a 
feverish  brooding  over  the  dangers  which  he  seems  to  have 
invited  against  himself  by  murdering  him.  And  it  is  well 
worth  noting  how,  in  this  speech,  as  in  several  others,  he 
goes  on  kindling  more  and  more  with  his  theme,  till  he  fairly 
loses  himself  in  a  trance  of  moral  and  imaginative  thought. 
The  inward  burnings  of  guilt  act  as  a  sort  of  inspiration  to 
him.  For  the  preternatural  illumination  of  mind,  which  so 
often  transports  him,  marks  the  insurgent  stress  of  moral 
forces. 

LADY  MACBETH 

In  the  structure  and  working  of  her  mind  and  moral 
frame,  Lady  Macbeth  is  the  opposite  of  her  husband,  and 
therefore  all  the  fitter  to  countervail  his  infirmity  of  purpose; 
that  is,  she  differs  from  him  in  just  the  right  way  to  supple- 
ment him.  Of  a  firm,  sharp,  wiry,  matter-of-fact  intellect, 
doubly  charged  with  energy  of  will,  she  has  little  in  common 
with  him  save  a  red-hot  ambition  :  hence,  while  the  Weird 
disclosures  act  on  her  will  just  as  on  his,  and  she  jumps 
forthwith  into  the  same  purpose,  the  effect  on  her  mind  is 
wholly  different.  Without  his  irritability  of  understanding 
and  imagination,  she  is  therefore  subject  to  no  such  involun- 
tary transports  of  thought.  Accordingly  she  never  loses  her- 
self in  any  raptures  of  meditation  ;  no  illusions  born  of  guilty 
fear  get  the  mastery  of  her  ;  at  least,  not  when  her  will  is  in 
exercise  :  in  her  waking  moments  her  senses  are  always 
so  thoroughly  in  her  keeping  that  she  hears  and  sees  things 
just  as  they  are.  As  conscience  draws  no  visions  before  her 


Iviii         THE  NEW  HUDSON  SHAKESPEARE 

eyes,  and  shapes  no  voices  in  her  hearing,  so,  while  he 
is  shaken  and  quite  unmanned  with  fantastical  terrors,  she 
remains  externally  calm,  collected,  and  cool.  Her  presence 
of  mind  indeed  seems  firmest  when  his  trances  of  illusion 
run  highest ;  so  that,  instead  of  being  at  all  infected  with  his 
agitations,  her  forces  then  move  in  the  aptest  order  to  re- 
cover him  from  them.  Which  shows  that  her  sympathy  with 
his  ambition,  intense  as  it  is,  has  no  power  to  make  her  sym- 
pathize with  his  mental  workings.  It  may  almost  be  said, 
indeed,  that  what  stimulates  his  imagination  stifles  hers. 

There  was  strong  dramatic  reason  why  Lady  Macbeth 
should  have  such  a  mind  and  temper  as  to  be  moved  and 
impressed,  when  awake,  by  nothing  but  facts.  She  ought 
to  be,  as  indeed  she  is,  so  constituted  that  the  evil  which 
has  struck  its  roots  so  deep  within  never  comes  back  to  her 
in  the  elements  and  aspects  of  nature,  either  to  mature  the 
guilty  purpose  or  to  obstruct  the  guilty  act.  It  is  remark- 
able that  she  does  not  once  recur  to  the  Weird  Sisters,  nor 
make  any  use  of  their  salutations;  they  seem  to  have  no 
weight  with  her,  but  for  the  impression  they  have  wrought 
on  her  husband.  That  this  impression  may  grow  to  the 
desired  effect,  she  refrains  from  meddling  with  it,  and  seeks 
only  to  fortify  it  with  impressions  of  another  sort.  And  what 
could  better  approve  her  shrewdness  and  tact  than  that,  in- 
stead of  overstraining  this  one  motive,  and  so  weakening  it, 
she  thus  lets  it  alone  and  labors  to  strengthen  it  by  mixing 
others  with  it?  For  in  truth  the  Weird  Sisters  represent, 
in  most  appalling  sort,  the  wickedness  of  the  purpose  they 
suggest :  so  that  Macbeth's  fears  as  well  as  his  hopes  are 
stimulated,  and  his  fears  even  more  than  his  hopes,  by  the 
recollection  of  their  greetings :  the  instant  he  reverts  to 


INTRODUCTION  lix 

them,  his  imagination  springs  into  action,  —  an  organ  of 
which  ambition  works  the  bellows  indeed,  but  conscience 
still  governs  the  stops  and  keys.  The  very  thought  of  them, 
indeed,  seems  to  put  him  at  once  under  a  fascination  of 
terror.  All  this  does  not  escape  his  wife;  who  therefore 
judges  it  best  rather  to  draw  his  thoughts  off  from  that 
matter,  and  fix  them  on  other  inducements.  He  had 
thought  of  the  murder,  when  as  yet  he  could  see  no  oppor- 
tunities for  doing  it.  When  those  opportunities  come,  they 
are  the  arguments  that  tell  with  her ;  and  she  therefore 
makes  it  her  business  to  urge  them  upon  him,  invoking  his 
former  manhood  withal,  to  redintegrate  and  shame  him  out 
of  his  present  weakness : 

Nor  time  nor  place 

Did  then  adhere,  and  yet  you  would  make  both : 
They  have  made  themselves,  and  that  their  fitness  now 
Does  unmake  you.    [I,  vii,  51-54-] 

Coleridge  justly  remarks  upon  her  adroit  boldness  in  first 
pressing  those  very  considerations  which  most  stagger  her 
husband's  purpose.  That  Duncan  has  cast  himself  unre- 
servedly on  their  loyalty  and  hospitality,  this  she  puts  forth 
as  the  strongest  argument  for  murdering  him  !  An  awful 
stroke  of  character  indeed,  and  therefore  awful,  because 
natural.  By  thus  anticipating  his  greatest  drawbacks,  and 
urging  them  as  the  chief  incentives,  she  forecloses  all  debate. 
Which  is  just  what  she  wants ;  for  she  knows  full  well  that 
the  thing  will  not  stand  the  tests  of  reason  a  moment :  it 
must  be  done  first,  and  discussed  afterwards.  And  through- 
out this  wrestling-match  she  surveys  the  whole  ground,  and 
darts  upon  the  strongest  points  with  the  quickness  and  sure- 
ness  of  instinct ;  the  sharpness  of  the  exigency  being  to  her 


Ix  THE  NEW  HUDSON  SHAKESPEARE 

a  sort  of  practical  inspiration.  The  finishing  stroke  in  this 
part  of  the  work  is  when,  her  husband's  resolution  being  all 
in  a  totter,  she  boldly  cuts  the  sinews  of  retreat,  casting  the 
thing  into  a  personal  controversy  and  making  it  a  theme  of 
domestic  war  : 

LADY  MACBETH.  Art  thou  afeard 

To  be  the  same  in  thine  own  act  and  valour 
As  thou  art  in  desire  ?    Wouldst  thou  have  that 
Which  thou  esteem'st  the  ornament  of  life, 
And  live  a  coward  in  thine  own  esteem, 
Letting  '  I  dare  not '  wait  upon  '  I  would,' 
Like  the  poor  cat  i'  the  adage  ? 

MACBETH.  Prithee,  peace : 

I  dare  do  all  that  may  become  a  man  ; 
Who  dares  do  more  is  none. 

LADY  MACBETH.  What  beast  was  't,  then, 

That  made  you  break  this  enterprise  to  me  ? 

[I,  vii,  39-48.] 

The  virtues  and  affections  of  the  husband  are  now  drawn 
up  against  the  conscience  of  the  man.  For,  to  be  scorned 
and  baited  as  a  coward  by  the  woman  he  loves,  and  by 
whom  he  is  loved,  is  the  last  thing  a  soldier  can  bear : 
death  is  nothing  to  it.  Macbeth,  accordingly,  goes  about 
the  deed,  and  goes  through  it,  with  an  assumed  ferocity 
caught  from  his  wife. 

Nor  is  that  ferocity  native  to  her  own  breast :  surely,  on 
her  part  too,  it  is  assumed ;  for  though  in  her  intense  over- 
heat of  expectant  passion  it  is  temporarily  fused  into  her 
character,  it  is  disengaged  and  thrown  off  as  soon  as  that 
heat  passes  away, — as  men,  in  the  ardor  of  successful  effort, 
sometimes  pass  for  a  while  into  a  character  which  they  un- 
dertake to  play.  Lady  Macbeth  begins  with  acting  a  part 


INTRODUCTION  Ixi 

which  is  really  foreign  to  her,  but  which,  notwithstanding, 
such  is  her  energy  of  will,  she  braves  out  to  issues  so  over- 
whelming that  her  husband  and  many  others  believe  it 
to  be  her  own.  Take,  for  example,  the  speech  beginning, 
"  I  have  given  suck,  and  know  how  tender  't  is  to  love  the 
babe  that  milks  me."  Mrs.  Siddons  used  to  utter  the  clos- 
ing words  of  that  speech  in  a  scream,  as  though  scared  from 
her  propriety  by  the  audacity  of  her  own  tongue.  It  is  not 
hard  to  conceive  how  a  spasmodic  action  of  fear  might  lend 
to  such  a  woman  as  Lady  Macbeth  an  appearance  of  super- 
human or  inhuman  boldness.  At  all  events,  it  seems  clear 
enough  that  in  this  case  her  fierce  vehemence  of  purpose 
rasps  her  woman's  feelings  to  the  quick  ;  and  the  pang 
thence  resulting  might  well  utter  itself  in  a  scream. 

Lady  Macbeth  is  indeed  a  great  bad  woman,  whom  we 
fear  and  pity;  but  neither  so  great  nor  so  bad  as  is  com- 
monly supposed.  She  has  closely  studied  her  husband,  and 
penetrated  far  into  the  heart  of  his  mystery,  yet  she  knows 
him  rather  as  he  is  to  her  than  as  he  is  in  himself :  hence 
in  describing  his  character  she  interprets  her  own.  She  has 
indeed  the  ambition  to  wish  herself  unsexed,  but  not  the 
power  to  unsex  herself  except  in  words.  For,  though  she 
invokes  the  "  murdering  ministers  "  to  "  come  to  her  woman's 
breasts,  and  take  her  milk  for  gall,"  still  she  cannot  make 
them  come,  and  her  milk,  in  spite  of  her  invocation,  con- 
tinues to  be  milk.  Verplanck  describes  her  as  "  a  woman  of 
high  intellect,  bold  spirit,  and  lofty  desires,  who  is  mastered 
by  a  fiery  thirst  of  power,  and  that  for  her  husband  as  well 
as  herself." 

Two  characters,  however,  may  easily  be  made  out  for 
Lady  Macbeth,  according  as  we  lay  the  chief  stress  on  what 


bdi          THE  NEW  HUDSON  SHAKESPEARE 

she  says  or  what  she  does.  No  one  can  fail  to  remark  that 
the  anticipation  raised  by  her  earlier  speeches  is  by  no 
means  sustained  in  her  subsequent  acts.  When  she  looks 
upon  the  face  of  the  sleeping  Duncan,  and  sees  the  mur- 
derous thought  passing,  as  it  were,  into  a  fact  before  her, 
a  gush  of  womanly  feeling  or  of  native  tenderness  suddenly 
stays  her  hand.  "  Had  he  not  resembled  My  father  as  he 
slept,  I  had  done  V  (II,  ii,  12-13).  That  such  a  real  or 
fancied  resemblance  should  thus  rise  up  and  unsinew  her 
purpose  in  the  moment  of  action,  is  a  rare  touch  of  nature 
indeed,  and  shows  that  conscience  works  even  more  effec- 
tually through  the  feelings  in  her  case  than  through  the  im- 
agination in  that  of  her  husband.  And  the  difference  of 
imagination  and  feeling  in  this  point  is,  that  the  one  acts 
most  at  a  distance,  the  other  on  the  spot.  The  towering 
audacity  of  her  earlier  speeches  arises,  at  least  in  part,  from 
an  overstrained  endeavor  to  school  herself  into  a  firmness 
and  fierceness  of  which  she  feels  the  want. 

Her  whole  after  course  favors  this  view.  For  instance, 
when  she  hears  from  Macbeth  how  he  has  murdered  the 
two  grooms  also,  she  sinks  down  at  the  tale.  That  is  not  a 
counterfeit  swoon.  The  thing  takes  her  by  surprise,  and 
her  iron-ribbed  self-control  for  once  gives  way.  The  an- 
nouncement of  Duncan's  murder  had  no  such  effect  upon 
her,  for  she  was  prepared  for  that ;  and  that  was  when  she 
would  have  counterfeited  fainting,  if  at  all.  So  bold  of 
tongue,  she  could  indeed  say,  "the  sleeping  and  the  dead 
Are  but  as  pictures  ;  'tis  the  eye  of  childhood  That  fears  a 
painted  devil"  (II,  ii,  53-55);  but  the  sequel  proves  her 
to  have  been  better  than  she  was  aware.  In  truth,  she  has 
undertaken  too  much  :  in  her  efforts  to  screw  her  own  and 


INTRODUCTION  Ixiii 

her  husband's  courage  to  the  sticking-place,  there  was  ex- 
erted a  force  of  will  which  answered  the  end  indeed,  but  at 
the  same  time  flawed  the  core  of  her  being. 

Accordingly  she  gives  no  waking  sign  of  the  dreadful  work 
that  is  doing  within  :  the  unmitigable  corrodings  of  her  rooted 
sorrow,  even  when  busiest  in  destruction,  do  not  once  betray 
her,  except  when  her  self-rule  is  dissolved  in  sleep.  But  the 
truth  comes  out,  with  an  awful  mingling  of  pathos  and  ter- 
ror, in  the  scene  where  her  conscience,  sleepless  amidst  the 
sleep  of  nature,  nay,  most  restless  even  then  when  all  other 
cares  are  at  rest,  drives  her  forth,  open-eyed  yet  sightless,  to 
sigh  and  groan  over  spots  on  her  hands  that  are  visible  to 
none  but  herself,  nor  even  to  herself  save  when  she  is  blind 
to  everything  else,  —  a  living  automaton  worked  by  the  ago- 
nies of  remorse  !  How  perfectly  her  senses  are  then  domi- 
nated by  the  conscience  is  shown  with  supreme  effect  in 
"Here's  the  smell  of  blood  still";  which  has  been  aptly 
noted  as  the  only  instance  in  modern  times  where  the  sense 
of  smell  has  been  successfully  employed  in  high  tragic  ex- 
pression.1 An  awful  mystery,  too,  hangs  over  her  death. 
We  know  not,  the  poet  himself  seems  not  to  know,  whether 
the  gnawings  of  the  undying  worm  drive  her  to  suicidal  vio- 
lence, or  themselves  cut  asunder  the  cords  of  her  life  :  all 
we  know  is,  that  the  death  of  her  body  springs  somehow 
from  the  inextinguishable  life  and  the  immedicable  wound 
of  her  soul.  What  a  history  of  her  woman's  heart  is  written 
in  her  thus  sinking,  sinking  away  where  imagination  shrinks 
from  following  her,  under  the  violence  of  an  invisible  yet  un- 
mistakable disease,  which  still  sharpens  its  inflictions  and  at 
the  same  time  quickens  her  sensibilities  ! 

1  See  quotation  from  Verplanck  illustrating  V,  i,  48-49. 


Ixiv         THE   NEW  HUDSON    SHAKESPEARE 

Lady  Macbeth  dies  before  her  husband.  This  is  one  of 
the  most  judicious  points  of  the  drama.  Her  death  touches 
Macbeth  in  the  only  spot  where  he  seems  to  retain  the  feel- 
ings of  a  man,  and  draws  from  him  some  deeply-solemn, 
soothing,  elegiac  tones  : 

MACBETH.  Wherefore  was  that  cry? 

SEYTON.  The  queen,  my  lord,  is  dead. 

MACBETH.  She  should  have  died  hereafter; 
There  would  have  been  a  time  for  such  a  word. 
To-morrow,  and  to-morrow,  and  to-morrow, 
Creeps  in  this  petty  pace  from  day  to  day, 
To  the  last  syllable  of  recorded  time; 
And  all  our  yesterdays  have  lighted  fools 
The  way  to  dusty  death.    Out,  out,  brief  candle  1 
Life's  but  a  walking  shadow;  a  poor  player 
That  struts  and  frets  his  hour  upon  the  stage 
And  then  is  heard  no  more.    It  is  a  tale 
Told  by  an  idiot,  full  of  sound  and  fury, 
Signifying  nothing.    [V,  v,  15-28.] 

IX.    GENERAL  CHARACTERISTICS 

Dr.  Johnson  observes,  with  singular  infelicity,  that  this  play 
"has  no  nice  discriminations  of  character."  In  respect  of 
characterization,  Macbeth  and  Lady  Macbeth  are  equalled 
only  by  Shakespeare's  other  masterpieces,  —  by  Shylock, 
Hamlet,  Lear,  and  lago ;  while  the  Weird  Sisters,  so  seem- 
ingly akin  (though  whether  as  mothers  or  sisters  or  daugh- 
ters we  cannot  tell)  to  the  thunderstorms  that  come  and  go 
with  them,  occupy  the  summit  of  his  preternatural  creations. 
Nevertheless,  it  must  be  owned  that  the  grandeur  of  the 
dramatic  combination  somewhat  overshadows  the  individual 
characters ;  insomuch  that  something  of  special  effort  is 


INTRODUCTION  bcv 

required  to  keep  the  delicate  limning  of  the  agents  from 
being  lost  sight  of  in  the  magnitude,  the  manifold  unity  and 
thought-like  rapidity  of  the  action. 

The  style  of  this  great  drama  is  pitched  in  the  same  high 
tragic  key  as  the  action.  Throughout  we  have  an  explo- 
sion, as  of  purpose  into  act,  so  also  of  thought  into  speech, 
both  literally  kindling  with  their  own  swiftness.  No  sooner 
thought  than  said,  no  sooner  said  than  done,  is  the  law  of 
the  piece.  Therewithal  thoughts  and  images  come  crowd- 
ing and  jostling  each  other  in  such  quick  succession  as  to 
prevent  a  full  utterance.  Nowhere  is  there  greater  concen- 
tration of  expression.  The  least  touching  of  the  ear  sends 
vibrations  through  all  the  chambers  of  the  mind.  Hence 
the  large,  manifold  suggestiveness  which  lurks  in  the  words  : 
they  seem  instinct  with  something  which  the  speakers  can- 
not stay  to  unfold.  And  between  these  invitations  to  lin- 
ger, and  the  continual  drawings  onward,  the  reader's  mind 
is  kindled  to  an  almost  preternatural  activity.  All  which 
might  at  length  grow  wearisome,  but  that  the  play  is 
throughout  a  conflict  of  antagonist  elements  and  opposite 
extremes,  which  are  so  managed  as  to  brace  up  the  interest 
on  every  side :  so  that  the  effect  of  the  whole  is  to  refresh, 
not  exhaust  the  powers,  the  mind  being  sustained  in  its 
long  and  lofty  flight  by  the  wings  that  grow  forth  as  of  their 
own  accord  from  its  superadded  life.  The  lyrical  element, 
instead  of  being  interspersed  here  and  there  in  the  form  of 
musical  lulls  and  pauses,  is  thoroughly  interfused  with  the 
dramatic  ;  while  the  ethical  sense  underlies  them  both,  and 
is  forced  up  through  them  by  their  own  pressure.  The  whole 
drama,  indeed,  may  be  described  as  a  tempest  set  to  music. 


Ixvi          THE  NEW  HUDSON  SHAKESPEARE 

X.    STAGE  HISTORY 

The  strong  dramatic  interest  of  Macbeth  has  made  its 
popularity  as  an  acting  play  among  Shakespeare's  tragedies 
almost  as  great  as  that  of  Hamlet.  The  red  shadow  of 
murder  and  the  gloom  of  disaster  hang  over  it  from  first 
to  last ;  with  the  exception  of  the  opening  of  the  scene  after 
the  murder  of  Duncan,  there  is  an  almost  total  lack  of  comic 
relief;  but  the  vigorous  style,  the  rapid  action,  the  play- 
wright's structural  methods,  the  spectacular  stage  effects, 
and  the  superb  opportunity  afforded  for  the  interpretation 
of  a  notable  heroine  as  well  as  for  that  of  a  great  hero, 
have  made  it  a  strong  favorite  with  actors  and  audiences. 

THE  SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY 

The  evidence  for  the  date  of  composition  (see  pages  xxvi- 
xxvii)  attests  the  popularity  of  the  play  before  Shakespeare's 
death,  and  the  theory  of  interpolations  by  Middleton  (see 
pages  xxxi-xxxiii)  would  indicate  that  with  or  without  alter- 
ations it  held  the  stage  up  to  the  time  of  the  closing  of  the 
theatres.  Richard  Burbage  (Burbidge,  Burbadge),  the  famous 
member  of  the  company  to  which  Shakespeare  belonged, 
was  undoubtedly  the  first  stage  Macbeth.  Though  short 
and  stout,  he  had  a  musical  voice,  and  Overbury  speaks  of 
"  his  full  and  significant  action  of  body."  In  the  theatre  of 
the  Restoration,  in  such  adaptations  as  are  represented  by 
the  Quartos  of  1673  and  1674  (see  page  xxx),  it  was  one 
of  the  most  popular  of  the  Shakespearian  revivals,  Thomas 
Betterton,  the  great  Shakespeare  actor  of  the  time,  taking 
the  leading  part  and  Mrs.  Betterton  playing  Lady  Macbeth. 


INTRODUCTION  Ixvii 

Pepys  has  eight  distinct  references  to  performances  at  "  the 
Duke's  house  "  (the  theatre  at  Lincoln's  Inn  Fields)  between 
1666  and  1669.  The  description  under  the  date,  January  7, 
1 667,  is  significant :  "  To  the  Duke's  house  and  saw  Macbeth, 
which  though  I  saw  it  lately,  yet  appears  a  most  excellent 
play  in  all  respects,  but  especially  in  divertisement,  though 
it  be  a  deep  tragedy ;  which  is  a  strange  perfection  in  a 
tragedy,  it  being  most  proper  here  and  suitable."  The  "  di- 
vertisement "  probably  has  reference  to  such  "  alterations, 
amendments,  additions,  and  new  songs"  as  are  mentioned 
on  the  title-page  of  the  D'Avenant  Quarto  (see  page  xxxi). 
After  the  opening  of  the  theatres  methods  of  opera  were 
applied  to  some  of  Shakespeare's  plays,  and  none  suffered 
more  in  this  respect  than  Macbeth  and  The  Tempest.  The 
accompanying  music  to  Macbeth  is  now  known  to  have  been 
by  Matthew  Locke  (Lock),  one  of  the  earliest  English  com- 
posers to  write  for  the  stage.1  Among  other  changes  and 
deformations  in  D'Avenant's  version  2  are  the  abbreviation 
of  the  blank  verse  speeches,  the  use  of  rhymed  heroics  in 
the  dialogue  between  Macduff  and  his  wife,  and  the  moderni- 
zation of  the  diction.  The  matter  of  the  Witches  offered  an 
opportunity  for  display  too  good  to  be  neglected,  and  the 
Weird  Sisters  as  conceived  by  Shakespeare,  with  their 
solemn  suggestion  of  the  Destinies  of  the  Greek  and  Roman 
mythology  and  the  Norns  of  the  Scandinavian,  gave  place 
to  semi-comic  furies,  now  flying  and  now  participating  in 
spectacular  dances. 

1  A  controversy  has  raged  over  the  authorship  of  the  original 
Macbeth  music,  some  claiming  that  Furcell  wrote  it.    As  a  matter  of 
fact  the  music  appeared  when  Purcell  was  only  fourteen  years  old. 

2  See  Furness's  A  Nnu  Variorum.    Macbeth,  pages  507-543. 


Ixviii       THE  NEW  HUDSON  SHAKESPEARE 

THE  EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY 

The  D'Avenant  version  was  popular  on  the  stage  until 
Garrick  appeared  as  Macbeth  at  Drury  Lane  in  1744.  Gar- 
rick  professed  to  give  "Macbeth  as  written  by  Shakespeare," 
and  though  he  retained  the  operatic  business  in  the  Witch 
scenes  and  Locke's  music,  he  was  on  the  whole  faithful  to 
the  original  text  except  at  the  close  of  the  play.  In  Garrick's 
version  Macbeth  is  represented  on  the  stage  to  the  last,  and 
he  dies  with  this  most  un-Shakespearian  speech  on  his  lips : ' 

'T  is  done  !  the  scene  of  life  will  quickly  close. 
Ambition's  vain  delusive  dreams  are  fled, 
And  now  I  wake  to  darkness,  guilt,  and  horror.  — 
I  cannot  rise  :  —  I  dare  not  ask  for  mercy  — 
It  is  too  late  ;  hell  drags  me  down  ;  —  I  sink, 
I  sink  ;  —  my  soul  is  lost  for  ever !  Oh  !  —  Oh ! 

In  Garrick's  later  revivals  Lady  Macbeth  was  played  by 
Mrs.  Pritchard,  one  of  the  great  interpreters  of  the  part  in 
the  traditions  of  the  stage. 

Garrick  played  Macbeth  in  scarlet  coat,  gold  lace  and  pow- 
dered tiewig,  the  full  court  dress  of  the  time  of  George  II. 
It  had  been  suggested  to  him  that  he  should  appear  in 
Highland  costume,  but  he  replied  naively :  "  You  forget 
that  the  Pretender  was  here  only  thirty  years  ago,  and,  egad  ! 
I  should  be  pelted  off  the  stage  with  orange-peel." 

The  first  time 2  that  a  stage  Macbeth  appeared  in  tartan 
and  kilt  was  when  "  rough  honest  old "  Macklin  took  the 

1  This    arrangement  with  these  added  lines  was  continued   in 
Kemble's  version  of  the  play. 

2  Steevens  pointed  out  that  in  IV,  iii,  160,  there  may  be  an  indica 
tion  that  appropriate  Scottish  dress  was  used  in  Shakespeare's  dav 


INTRODUCTION  Ixix 

part  at  Covent  Garden  in  1773.  All  the  characters  were 
in  Scottish  costumes,  and  one  of  his  detractors  described 
Macklin  as  an  "  old  Scotch  piper  stumping  along  at  the  head 
of  his  army."  In  his  later  revivals  he  abandoned  the  High- 
land dress  and  acted  the  part  in  conventional  costume. 

On  April  21,  1794,  a  notable  performance  took  place  at 
the  opening  of  new  Drury  Lane,  when  John  Philip  Kemble 
played  Macbeth,  his  sister,  Mrs.  Siddons,  acted  Lady  Mac- 
beth, and  the  younger  brother,  Charles  Kemble,  appeared 
as  Malcolm.  Kemble  was  singularly  impressive  in  the  banquet 
scene,  and  this  was  the  first  time  that  it  was  given  without 
a  visible  ghost.1  "  Mrs.  Siddons,"  writes  Doran,  "  imagined 
Lady  Macbeth,  the  heroine  of  the  most  tragic  of  tragedies, 
to  be  a  delicate  blonde,  who  ruled  by  her  intellect,  and  sub- 
dued by  her  beauty,  but  with  whom  no  one  feeling  of  com- 
mon general  nature  was  congenial,  a  woman  prompt  for 
wickedness,  but  swiftly  possessed  by  remorse." 

THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY 

Kemble's  Macbeth  with  its  dignity  and  poetry  dominated 
the  stage  until  Edmund  Kean  appeared  in  the  part,  Novem- 
ber 5,  1814.  Kean  was  peculiarly  effective  in  the  murder 
scene.  "  As  a  lesson  of  common  humanity,"  says  Hazlitt, 
"  it  was  heart-rending.  The  hesitation,  the  bewildered  look, 
the  coming  to  himself  when  he  sees  his  hands  bloody ;  the 
manner  in  which  his  voice  clung  to  his  throat  and  choked 
his  utterance ;  his  agony  and  tears ;  the  force  of  nature 
overcome  by  passion  —  beggared  description."  To  Kean 

1  Macready,  Booth,  and  Irving  followed  Kemble  in  this  ;  Edmund 
Kean,  Forrest,  and  Charles  Kean  adhered  to  the  old  tradition  of  a 
visible  ghost. 


Ixx          THE   NEW  HUDSON   SHAKESPEARE 

belongs  the  credit  of  having  swept  away  the  last  of  the 
comic  business  that  had  clung  to  the  Witch  scenes  from  the 
time  of  the  Restoration.  From  his  day  to  the  beginning  of 
the  twentieth  century  the  stage  history  of  Macbeth  is  a  history 
of  noteworthy  performances  by  the  great  actors  of  the  mod- 
ern world.  Macready,  Forrest,  Phelps,  Charles  Kean,  Booth, 
Irving,  and  Salvini  are  names  that  will  ever  be  associated 
with  the  title  role ;  and  Helen  Faucit  (Lady  Martin),  Ellen 
Terry,  and  Charlotte  Cushman  have  widened  in  a  remarkable 
and  varied  way  the  conception  of  what  is  involved  in  the 
dramatic  interpretation  of  the  heroine. 


AUTHORITIES 
(With  the  more  important  abbreviations  used  in  the  notes) 

FI  =  First  Folio,  1623. 
F2  =  Second  Folio,  1632. 
F8  =  Third  Folio,  1664. 
F4  =  Fourth  Folio,  1685. 
Ff  =  all  the  seventeenth  century  Folios. 
D'Avenant  =  D'Avenant's  version,  1674. 
Rowe  =  Rowe's  editions,  1709,  1714. 
Pope  =  Pope's  editions,  1723,  1728. 
Theobald  =  Theobald's  editions,  1733,  1740. 
Hanmer  =  Hanmer's  edition,  1744. 
Johnson  =  Johnson's  edition,  1765. 
Capell  =  Capell's  edition,  1768. 
Malone  =  Malone's  edition,  1790. 
Steevens  =  Steevens's  edition,  1793. 

Globe  =  Globe  edition  (Clark  and  Wright),  1864. 
Clar  =  Clarendon  Press  (second)  edition  (Clark  and  Wright)* 

1869. 

Dyce  =  Dyce's  (third)  edition,  1875. 
Delius  =  Delius's  (fifth)  edition,  1882. 
Camb  =  Cambridge  (third)  edition  (W.  A.  Wright),  1891. 
Libby  =  M.  F.  Libby's  Some  New  Notes  on  Macbeth,  1893. 
Manly  =  J.  M.  Manly's  edition,  Longmans'  English  Classics, 

1896. 

Verity  =  A.  W.  Verity's  edition,  Pitt  Press,  1902. 
Furness  =  H.  H.  Furness's  A  New  Variorum.    Afacbeth  (revised 

edition),  1903. 

Liddell  =  M.  H.  Liddell's  edition,  Doubleday,  Page  &  Co.,  1903, 
Herford  =  C.  H.  Herford's  The  Eversley  Shakespeare,  1903.. 

Abbott  =  E.  A.  Abbott's  A  Shakespearian  Grammar. 
Cotgrave  =  Cotgrave's    Dictionarie   of  the  French  and  English 

Tongues,  1 6 1 1 . 
Schmidt  =  Schmidt's  Shakespeare  Lexicon. 

Skeat  =  Skeat's  An  Etymological  Dictionary. 
Murray  =  A  New  English  Dictionary  (  The  Oxford  Dictionary). 
Century  =  The  Century  Dictionary. 
Holinshed  =  Raphael  Holinshed's  Chronicles  of  England,  Ireland^ 

and  Scotland  (second  edition),  1586-1587. 
Scot  —  Reginald  Scot's  The  Discor'erie  of  Witchcraft,  \  584. 
Ixxi 


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1 

1 
P. 

HISTORY  AND  BIOGRAPHY 

Michelangelo  died. 
Calvin  died.  Marlowe 
born.  Galileo  born 

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Murder  of  Rizzio 

Mary  of  Scots  a  prisoner 
in  England.  Ascham 
died.  Coverdale  died. 
Netherlands  War  of 
Liberation 

Knox  died.  Massacre 
of  St.  Bartholomew 

Ben  Jonson  born  ? 
Donne  born 

Earl  of  Leicester's 
players  licensed 

Queen  Elizabeth  at 
Kenilworth.  Palissy 
lectured  on  Natural 
History 

"  The  Theatre  "  opened 
in  Finsbury  Fields, 
London,  followed  by 
"  The  Curtain."  Han« 
Sachs  died 

Drake  sailed  to  circum- 
navigate globe 

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Gorboduc  printed 

Udall's  Roister  Doi 
printed? 

The  Bishops  Bi 
La  Taille's  Sai 
Furieux.  R.Grafl 
Chronicle 

Camoens'  OS  Lusii 
(The  Lusiads) 

Tasso's  Aminta 

Mirror  for  Magistr 
(third  edition) 

Gammer  Gurto 
Needle.  Goldi 
Ovid  (complete) 

The  Paradise  of  Da 
Devices.  Gascoif 
Steel  Glass 

Holinshed's  Chroni 

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Accademia  della  Crusca 
founded 

Sir  Humphrey  Gilbert 
drowned 

William  the  Silent 
assassinated.  Ivan  the 
Terrible  died 

Ronsard  died 

Sir  Philip  Sidney  killed 

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Gosson's  School  Of 
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tarch. Lyly's  Buphues 
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Shepherd's  Calendar 

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Tasso's  Gerusalemme 
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Garnier's  Les  Juives 

Lyly's  Campaspe. 
Peele's  Arraignment 
of  Paris 

Guarini's  Pastor  Fido 
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Camden's  Britannia 

Hakluyt's  Four  Voy- 
ages. Faustbuch 

(Spiess,  Frankfort) 

Martin  Marprelate: 
The  Epistle 

Puttenham's  Art  Of 
English  Poesie 

Marlowe's  Tambur- 
laine.  Spenser's 
Faerie  Queene,  I-III. 
Lodge's  Rosalynde. 
Sidney's  Arcadia 

Sidney's  Astrophel  and 
Stella.  Harington's 
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Greene  died.  Montaigne 
died.  London  theatres 
closed  through  plague 

Marlowe  died.  Herbert 
born 

Palestrina  ("  Princeps 
Musics;  ")  died 

Tasso  died.  Sir  Walter 
Raleigh's  expedition 
to  Guiana.  Sir  J.  Haw- 
kins died 

Burbage  built  Black- 
friar's  Theatre.  Des- 
cartes born.  Sir  F. 
Drake  died 

The  Tyrone  rebellion 

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FOREIGN  LITERATURE 

Daniel's  Delia.  Lyly's 
Gallathea  (Galatea) 

Peele's  Edward  I. 
Barnes's  Sonnets 

Rinuccini'sDafne.  Sat- 
ire Menipee 

Peele's  Old  Wives' 
Tale.  Spenser's  Epi- 
thalamion 

Drayton's  Mortimeria- 
dos.  Faerie  Queene, 
Books  IV-VI 

Bacon's  Essays  (first 
edition).  Hall's  Virgi- 
demiarum 

Meres's  Palladis  Ta- 
mia.  Chapman's  Ho- 
mer (pt.  i).  Lope  de 
Vega's  Arcadia 

Aleman's  Guzman  de 
Alfarache.  Peele's 
David  and  Bethsabe 

England's  Helicon 

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Ixxv 


DISTRIBUTION   OF  CHARACTERS 


In  this  analysis  are  shown  the  acts  and  scenes  in  which  the  char- 
acters (see  Dramatis  Personae,  page  2)  appear,  with  the  number  of 
speeches  and  lines  given  to  each. 

NOTE.     Parts  of  lines  are  counted  as  whole  lines. 


NO.  OF 

NO.  OF 

NO.  OF 

NO.  OP 

SPEECHES 

LINES 

SPEECHES 

LINES 

MACBETH 

I,  iii 

13 

SO 

BANQUO 

I,  iii 

12 

42 

I,  iv 

3 

16 

I,  iv 

I 

2 

I,v 

3 

4 

I,  vi 

I 

8 

I,  vii 

7 

48 

II,  i 

8 

24 

II,  i 

6 

45 

II,  iii 

2 

n 

II,  ii 

M 

39 

III,  i 

6 

20 

II,  iii 

'3 

33 

III,  iii 

_3 

4 

Ill.i 
III,  ii 

15 

5 

114 
4i 

33 

III 

Ill.iv 
IV,  i 
V.  iii 
V,  v 
V,  vi 
V,  viii 

25 
16 
10 
6 

5 
5 

no 
75 
55 
44 

10 

26 

LENNOX 

I,  ii 
II,  iii 
Ill.iv 
III,  vi 
IV,  i 
V,  ii 

i 

7 
4 
3 
5 

2 

2 
20 

5 
32 
6 

7 

146 

710 

22 

72 

MALCOLM 

I,  ii 
I,  iv 

2 
I 

6 

IO 

DUNCAN 

I,  ii 

8 

'4 

II,  iii 

5 

J4 

I,  iv 

6 

36 

IV,  iii 

23 

'39 

I,  vi 

4 

18 

V,  iv 

3 

n 

18 

"68 

V,  vi 

i 

6 

V,  vii 

i 

2 

SCOTCH  DOCTOR 

V,  i 

15 

34 

V,  viii 

_4 

2O 

V,  iii 

4 

_9 

40 

208 

J9 

43 

MACDUFF 

II,  iii 

'5 

37 

PORTER 

II,  iii 

3 

24 

II,  iv 
IV,  iii 
V,  iv 

28 

i 

M 
9' 
3 

CAPTAIN 

I,  ii 

3 

35 

V,  vi 
V,  vii 

i 
i 

2 

i  MURDERER 

III,  i 

7 

IO 

V,  viii 

5 
58 

19 
I76 

III,  iii 
Ill.iv 
IV,  ii 

7 
4 
3 

n 
7 
4 

Ross 

I,  ii 

4 

18 

21 

32 

I,  iii 

2 

16 

II,  iv 

IO 

26 

OLD  SIWARD 

V,  iv 

3 

10 

Ill.iv 

3 

5 

V,  vi 

3 

IV,  ii 

4 

'9 

V,  vii 

2 

6 

IV,  iii 

'3 

4i 

V,  viii 

_5 

ii 

V,  viii 

_J 

_9 

n 

3° 

39 

134 

Ixxvi 


DISTRIBUTION  OF  CHARACTERS         Ixxvii 


NO.  OF 

NO.  OF 

NO.  OF 

NO.  OP 

SPEECHES 

LINES 

SPEECHES 

LINES 

ALL  (Witches) 

I,  i 

I 

3 

ENGLISH         ) 
DOCTOR  | 

IV,  iii 

I 

5 

I,  iii 

I 

6 

IV,  i 

8 

J3 

SEVTON 

V,  iii 

3 

3 

10 

22 

V,  v 

2 

? 

5 

5 

ALL  (Lords) 

II,  iii 

2 

2 

V,  viii 

I 

I 

2  APPARITION 

IV,  i 

3 

4 

3 

3 

i  APPARITION 

IV,  i 

I 

a 

LORD 

Ill.vi 

3 

21 

FLBANCK 

II,  i 

2 

2 

LORDS 

IH.iv 

3 

3 

ATTENDANT 

III,  i 

I 

i 

MESSENGER 

I,  v 
IV,  ii 

2 
I 

5 
9 

LADY              ) 
MACBETH  I 

I,  v 

6 

68 

V,  v 

3 

9 

I,  vi 

2 

ii 

I,  vii 

6 

43 

6 

23 

II,  ii 

'4 

46 

II,  iii 

3 

6 

ANGUS 

I,  iii 

2 

12 

Ill.i 

i 

V,  ii 

2 

_9 

III,  u 

7 

IB 

4 

21 

Ill.iv 

'4 

4° 

V,  i 

6 

20 

SON 

IV,  ii 

'4 

2O 

59 

255 

2  MURDERER 

III,  i 

4 

8 

i  WITCH 

1,1 

3 

4 

III,  iii 

4 

_9 

I,  iii 

9 

28 

8 

17 

III,  v 

2 

1 

IV,  i 

9 

27 

MBNTEITH 

V,  ii 

3 

10 

23 

61 

V,  iv 

2 

2 

5 

12 

2  WITCH 

1,1 

2 

3 

I,  iii 

6 

6 

OLD  MAX 

II,  iv 

4 

II 

IV,  i 

6 

17 

CAiryNESS 

V,  ii 

3 

II 

14 

26 

DONALBAIN 

II,  iii 

3 

9 

3  WITCH 

I,  i 
I,  iii 

2 
6 

2 

8 

3  MURDERER 

III,  iii 

6 

8 

IV,  i 

_4 

16 

12 

"26 

YOUNG  SIWARD 

V,  vii 

4 

7 

LADYMACDUFF 

IV,  ii 

'9 

4' 

SERVANT 

III,  ii 

V,  iii 

2 
3 

2 

3 

H  ECATE 

III,  v 

i 

34 

IV,  i 

i 

5 

5 

5 

— 

2 

39 

3  APPARITION 

IV,  i 

1 

5 

GENTLEWOMAN 

V,  i 

II 

23 

THE  TRAGEDY  OF 
MACBETH 


DRAMATIS   PERSON^1 


DUNCAN,2  King  of  Scotland. 

MALCOLM,     )  ,  . 

>  his  sons. 

DONALBAIN,  ) 

MACBETH,      )  generals  of  the 

BANQUO,3       )      King's  army. 

MACDUFF, 

LENNOX, 

Ross, 

MENTEITH, 

ANGUS, 

CAITHNESS,*  _ 

FLEANCE,  son  to  Banqua 

SIWARD,  earl  of  Northumberland, 

general  of  the  English  forces. 
Young  SIWARD,  his  son. 
SEYTON,  an  officer  attending  on 

Macbeth. 


noblemen  of  Scot- 
land. 


Boy,  son  to  Macduff. 
An  English  Doctor. 
A  Scotch  Doctor. 
A  Captain. 
A  Porter. 
An  Old  Man. 

Lady  MACBETH. 
Lady  MACDUFF. 
Gentlewoman6  attending  on 

Lady  Macbeth. 
HECATE. 
Three  Witches. 
Apparitions. 


Lords,  Gentlemen,  Officers,  Soldiers,  Murderers,  Attendants, 
and  Messengers. 

SCENE:  Scotland;  England 


1  In  D'Avenant's  version  of  the  play  (1674)  's  a  I'5*  °f  '  The  Persons 
Names,'  but  Rowe  was  the  first  editor  to  give  the  Dramatis  Personae  in 
essentially  the  modern  form.    Capell  expanded  Rowe's  list.    That  given  here 
is  substantially  Dyce's. 

2  The  names  of  all  the  leading  characters  are  from  Holinshed. 

8  BANQUO.  The  name  and  title  as  given  by  Holinshed  is  '  Banquho  the 
thane  of  Lochquhaber.'  For  an  interesting  discussion  of  the  pronunciation, 
see  Furness. 

4  "  Malcolme  .  .  .  created  manie  earles.  .  .  .     Manie  of  them  that  before 
were  thanes,  were  at  this  time  made  earles,  as  Fife,  Menteth,  Atholl,  Leuenox, 
Murrey,  Cathnes,  Rosse,  and  Angus.     These  were  the  first  earles  that  haue 
beene  heard  of  amongst  the  Scotishmen." —  Holinshed. 

5  Gentlewoman  .  .  .  Capell  |  Gentlewomen  .  .  .  Rowe. 

2 


ACT  I 

SCENE  I.  A  desert  place 
Thunder  and  lightning.   Enter  three  WITCHES 

1  WITCH.   When  shall  we  three  meet  again 

In  thunder,  lightning,  or  in  rain  ? 

2  WITCH.   When  the  hurlyburly  's  done, 

When  the  battle  's  lost  and  won. 

3  WITCH.   That  will  be  ere  the  set  of  sun.  5 

1  WITCH.    Where  the  place? 

2  WITCH.  Upon  the  heath. 

3  WITCH.   There  to  meet  with  Macbeth. 

A  desert  place  Camb  |  Ff  omit.  i.  again  Hanmer  |  againe?  Ff. 

ACT  I.  SCENE  I.  The  division  into  acts  and  scenes  in  this  edi- 
tion is  that  given  with  Latin  nomenclature  in  the  First  Folio,  except 
in  the  case  of  the  fifth  act,  where  Scena  Septima  of  the  Folio  is  sub- 
divided into  scenes  vii  and  viii. 

A  desert  place.    Line  6  indicates  that  this  is  not  '  the  heath.' 

Enter  three  WITCHES.  "  The  true  reason  for  the  first  appearance 
of  the  Witches  is  to  strike  the  key-note  of  the  character  of  the  whole 
drama."  —  Coleridge. 

1-2.  The  question  concerns  time,  not  weather.  'Or'  emphasizes 
the  difference  in  the  three  elements.  "In  Stormes  of  Haile,  or 
Snowe,  Wind,  Tempest,  or  Lightning,  is  accounted  amongst  magi- 
cians, a  Tyme  for  Conjuring  at  an  easie  rate." —  Scot. 

3.  hurlyburly :  tumult.  This  onomatopoetic  word  was  used  in  a 
dignified  sense  in  the  sixteenth  century.  See  Murray. 

7.  A  strong  pause  after  '  meet '  heightens  the  metrical  effect. 

3 


4  THE   NEW  HUDSON   SHAKESPEARE      ACT  i 

i  WITCH.    I  come,  Graymalkin. 

ALL.  Paddock  calls  :  —  Anon  ! 

.Fair  is  foul,  and  foul  is  fair;  "-f—  10 

Hover  through  the  fog  and  filthy  air. 

\_Exeun  t~\ 

9.  ALL.  Paddock  calls: — Anon!  I  9-10.  Paddock  .  .  .  fair:  |  one  line 

All.  Padock  calls  anon :  Ff.  in  Ff. 

8.  Graymalkin :  gray  cat,  cat.  In  Scotland  '  malkin  '  ('  mawkin  ') 
is  '  hare.'  Cf.  '  puss  '  for  '  hare '  in  sportsmen's  slang.  In  the  old 
witchcraft  lore  witches  are  represented  as  having  attendants,  called 
familiars,  in  the  guise  of  animals.  "  They  can  keep  the  Divils  and 
Spirits  in  the  likenesse  of  Todes  and  Cats." —  Scot. 

9-10.  Some  modern  editors,  including  Clark  and  Wright  (Clar, 
Globe),  follow  Hunter's  conjecture  and  distribute  the  dialogue 
among  the  witches  thus :  "  2  WITCH.  Paddock  calls.  3  WITCH. 
Anon.  ALL.  Fair  is  foul,"  etc.  In  the  D'Avenant  version  the 
arrangement  is  that  of  the  Folios.  This  probably  indicates  the 
stage  tradition.  —  Paddock :  toad.  The  word  (often  pronounced 
'padda,'  cf.  Middle  English  fadde,  Icelandic  padda)  is  still  used  in 
Scotland  and  provincial  England  for  'frog.'  In  the  Western  High- 
lands 'padock'  is  the  name  sometimes  given  to  a  malevolent  spirit. 
— Anon :  immediately.  The  usual  inn-waiter's  reply  to  a  call.  Cf. 
i  Henry  IV,  II,  iv,  36,  72,  109,  etc.  Here  the  toad  serving  as 
familiar  is  supposed  to  make  a  sign  for  the  witches  to  leave,  and 
'  Anon  ! '  is  the  reply.  —  Fair  ia  foul,  and  foul  is  fair.  Cf .  Spenser, 
The  Faerie  Queene,  I,  ii,  38.  Farmer  also  quotes  Spenser's  "Then 
faire  grew  foule  and  foule  grew  faire,"  to  show  the  proverbial  char- 
acter of  this  phrase.  But  the  expression  probably  signifies  the  moral 
confusion  or  inversion  which  the  witches  represent. 

ii.  filthy:  murky.  See  Murray.  Gloom  is  the  background  oi 
the  play. 


SCENE  II  MACBETH  5 

SCENE  II.  A  camp  near  Forres 

Alarum  within.    Enter  DUNCAN,  MALCOLM,  DONALBAIN, 
LENNOX,  with  Attendants,  meeting  a  bleeding  CAPTAIN 

DUNCAN.   What  bloody  man  is  that?    He  can  report, 
As  seemeth  by  his  plight,  of  the  revolt* 
The  newest  state. 

MALCOLM.  This  is  the  sergeant 

Who  like  a  good  and  hardy  soldier  fought 
'Gainst  my  captivity.    Hail,  brave  friend  !  5 

Say  to  the  king  thy  knowledge  of  the  broil 
As  thou  didst  leave  it. 

CAPTAIN.  Doubtful  it  stood, 

As  two  spent  swimmers  that  do  cling  together 
And  choke  their  art.    The  merciless  Macdonwald  — 
Worthy  to  be  a  rebel,  for  to  that  10 

A  camp  .  .  .  Capell  I  Ff  omit.  —  5.  Hail  |  Haile  Fi  |  Haile  :  haile 

DUNCAN,  Capell  |  King  Ff.  —  bleed-  Fa  I  Haile,  haile  FsF*. 

ing  CAPTAIN  Ff  |  bleeding  Sergeant  7.  CAPTAIN  |  Cap.  Ff  |  Sergeant 

Globe  Dyce  Camb.  Globe  Dyce  Camb. 

i.  DUNCAN  |  King  Ff  (so  else-  9.  Macdonwald  Fi  |  Macdonnell 
where). 


SCENE  II.  This  scene  is  regarded  by  many  modern  editors  as 
not  Shakespeare's.  The  reasons  given  are  slovenly  diction,  bom- 
bastic style,  alleged  inconsistencies,  and  the  absurdity  of  sending 
news  of  victory  by  a  wounded  soldier.  Daniel  notes  that  the  ser- 
geant was  not  formally  sent  but  was  merely  a  straggler. 

3.  sergeant.  Probably  trisyllabic.  In  the  fourteenth  century  ser- 
geants held  lands  by  tenure  of  military  service.  "  The  offenders 
were  sent  for  by  a  sergeant  at  armes."  —  Holinshed. 

5.  Hail.    Probably  dissyllabic,  but  see  Abbott,  §§  480-482. 

9.  Macdonwald.    "  Manie  slanderous  words  also,  and  railing  tants 
this  Macdowald  vttered  against  his  prince."  —  Holinshed. 

10.  to  that:  to  that  end,  for  that  purpose.    See  Abbott,  §  186 


6  THE   NEW  HUDSON   SHAKESPEARE     ACT  I 

The  multiplying  villainies  of  nature 

Do  swarm  upon  him  —  from  the  western  isles 

Of  kerns  and  gallowglasses  is  supplied ; 

And  fortune,  on  his  damned  quarry  smiling, 

Show'd  like  a  rebel's  whore  :  but  all 's  too  weak;  15 

For  brave  Macbeth  —  well  he  deserves  that  name  — 

Disdaining  fortune,  with  his  brandish'd  steel, 

Which  smok'd  with  bloody  execution, 

Like  valour's  minion  carv'd  out  his  passage 

Till  he  fac'd  the  slave ;  20 

13.  gallowglasses  Steevens  |  Gal-  14.  quarry  |  Quarry   Ff  |  quarrel 

lowgrosses  Fi  |  Gallow  glasses  FzFa       Hanmer  (Warburton  Johnson  conj.) 
F4.  — is  Ff  |  was  Pope.  Globe  Camb. 

13.  Of:  with.    See  Abbott,  §  171.  —  kerns:  light-armed  Erse  infan 
try.    Cf.  Richard  If,  II,  i,  156.    See  Skeat.  —  gallowglasses:  heavy- 
armed  Erse  infantry.    Cf.  2  Henry  VI,  IV,  ix,  26.    See  Murray.  "For 
out  of  the  westerne  lies  there  came  vnto  him  a  great  multitude  of 
people,  offering  themselves  to  assist  him  hi  that  rebellious  quarell, 
and  out  of  Ireland  in  hope  of  the  spoile  came  no  small  number 
of  Kernes  and  Galloglasses,  offering  gladlie   to  serve  vnder  him, 
whither  it  should  please  him  to  lead  them."  —  Holinshed. 

14.  damned  quarry:  doomed  prey.    'His'  may  refer  to  'fortune' 
or   to    '  Macdonwald.'     The    Warburton -Johnson    suggestion    that 
'quarrel'  (cf.  'rebellious  quarell'  in  the  quotation  from  Holinshed 
just  given)  should  be  read  here  is  adopted  by  most  modern  editors. 
In  IV,  iii,  206,  'quarry'  means  'heap  of  slain.'    Cf.  Corwlanus,  I,  i, 
202.    Other  Elizabethan  writers  use  'quarry'  in  the  sense  of  ' square- 
headed  bolt  of  a  crossbow.' 

15.  all 's.    Unless  this  be  a  contraction  of  '  all  was.'  it  is  an  exam- 
ple of  mixing  up  historical  present  and  past  tenses.    Pope  omitted 
's,  interpreting  'all  too  weak.'    Cf.  'is  supplied,'  line  13. 

18.  execution.    The  termination  '  -ion '  is  frequently  pronounced 
as  two  syllables  at  the  end  of  a  line,  and  occasionally  in  the  middle 
of  a  line.    See  Abbott,  §  479. 

19.  minion  •.  favorite.    In  a  good  sense,  as  in  /  Henry  IV,  I,  i,  83. 


SCENE  II  MACBETH  7 

Which  ne'er  shook  hands,  nor  bade  farewell  to  him, 
Till  he  unseam'd  him  from  the  nave  to  th'  chops, 
And  fix'd  his  head  upon  our  battlements. 

DUNCAN.    O  valiant  cousin  !  worthy  gentleman  ! 

CAPTAIN.   As  whence  the  sun  'gins  his  reflection  25 

Shipwrecking  storms  and  direful  thunders, 
So  from  that  spring  whence  comfort  seem'd  to  come 
Discomfort  swells.    Mark,  king  of  Scotland,  mark : 
No  sooner  justice  had,  with  valour  arm'd, 
Compell'd  these  skipping  kerns  to  trust  their  heels,          30 

ai.  ne'er  Knight  |  nev'rFiFzFs  I         Ff.  —  thunders,  |  Thunders  :    Fi  1 
never  F4.  —  bade  Steevens  I  bad  Ff.         Thunders  breaking  FaFsF*  |  thun- 
26.  Shipwrecking  |  Shipwracking       ders  break  Pope  Camb. 

21.  Which.    The  antecedent  is  Macbeth.    See  Abbott,  §  265.  — 
shook  hands.    In  the  sixteenth  and  seventeenth  centuries  '  to  shake 
hands  with'  a  thing  was  a  picturesque  phrase  for  'to  leave.'    "I  have 
shaken  hands  with  delight  in  my  warm  blood  and  canicular  days ;  I 
perceive  I  do  anticipate  the  vices  of  age."  —  Browne,  Keligio  Medici. 
But  there  may  be  an  allusion  to  the  formal  handshaking  before  a  duel. 
"  The  shaking  of  handes  was  with  sharp  weapons."  —  Sidney,  A rcadia. 

22.  nave :  navel.    Hanmer  read  '  nape,'  as  '  nave  '  occurs  nowhere 
else,  and  such  a  sword-stroke  as  that  described  seems  ridiculous. 
Steevens  quotes  from  Nash's  Dido,  Queen  of  Carthage  (1594),  II, 
256 :  "  Then  from  the  navel  to  the  throat  at  once  He  ripp'd  old 
Priam."  —  chops:  jaws.    Another  form  of 'chaps.' 

23.  "  Makbeth  entring  into  the  castell  by  the  gates  .  .  .  found  the 
carcasse  of  Makdowald  lieng  dead  ...  he  caused  the  head  to  be 
cut  off,  and  set  upon  a  pole's  end  (and  so  sent  it  as  a  present  to  the 
king).  .  .  .    The  headlesse  trunke  he  commanded  to  be  hoong  up 
upon  an  high  paire  of  gallowes." — Holinshed. 

25-28.  As  from  the  east,  the  region  of  quiet  dawn  and  fair  prom- 
ise, come  fiercest  storms,  so  from  a  victory  that  brought  joy  spring 
fresh  dangers  and  alarms.  —  There  seems  no  valid  reason  for  adding 
'  break '  to  line  26,  as  many  editors  do,  for  with  ideas  of  motion  the 
verb  is  often  omitted,  and  the  irregular  verse  is  characteristic  of 
Macbeth  and  onomatopoetically  effective.  See  Liddell. 


8  THE   NEW  HUDSON   SHAKESPEARE     ACT  I 

But  the  Norweyan  lord,  surveying  vantage, 
With  furbish'd  arms  and  new  supplies  of  men, 
Began  a  fresh  assault. 

DUNCAN.  Dismay'd  not  this 

Our  captains,  Macbeth  and  Banquo? 

CAPTAIN.  Yes ;, 

As  sparrows  eagles,  or  the  hare  the  lion.  35 

If  I  say  sooth,  I  must  report  they  were 
As  cannons  overcharg'd  with  double  cracks ; 
So  they  doubly  redoubled  strokes  upon  the  foe : 
Except  they  meant  to  bathe  in  reeking  wounds, 
Or  memorize  another  Golgotha,  40 

I  cannot  tell  — 
But  I  am  faint,  my  gashes  cry  for  help. 

33.  furbish'd  |  furbusht  Ff.  38.  So   they  |   separate    line    in 
33-34.  Dismay'd  —  Banquo  Pope       Steevens  Camb. 

I  one  line  in  Ff.  42.  I  ...  help  Rowe  |  two  lines  in 

34-35.  Yes  .  .  .  lion    Pope  |  two       Ff,  first  ending  faint, 
lines  in  Ff,  ending  eagles,  lion. 

31.  surveying  vantage :  perceiving  a  favorable  opportunity.  "  Inv 
mediatlie  whereupon  woord  came  that  Sueno  king  of  Norway  was 
arrived  in  Fife  with  a  puissant  armie,  to  subdue  the  whole  realme  of 
Scotland." —  Holinshed. 

34.  captains.    Probably  trisyllabic.    '  Capitains '  is  a  common  six- 
teenth century  form  of  the  word.    This  pronunciation  is  still  heard 
in  dialect.    Cf.  j  Henry  Vf,  IV,  vii,  30. 

36.  sooth :  truth.    '  Sooth '  (Middle  English  '  soth,'  Anglo-Saxon 
sift)  is  both  adjective  and  substantive,  the  adjectival  sense  being  the 
older.    The  root  idea  is  '  being."    See  Skeat. 

37.  By  a  well-known  figure  of  speech, '  crack  '  is  here  put  for  that 
which  makes  the  'crack.'    Cf.  Antony  and  Cleopatra,  V,  i,  14,  15. 

39-41.  Unless  they  meant  to  bathe  in  reeking  wounds  and  make 
the  place  as  memorable  as  Golgotha,  I  cannot  tell  what  they  in- 
tended. Golgotha,  "  the  place  of  a  skull "  (Matthew,  xxvii,  33 : 
Mark,  xv,  22),  i.e.  of  slaughter,  is  here  referred  to. 


SCENE  n  MACBETH  9 

DUNCAN.   So  well  thy  words  become  thee  as  thy  wounds  ; 
They  smack  of  honour  both.    Go  get  him  surgeons. 

[Exit  CAPTAIN,  attended] 

Enter  Ross  and  ANGUS 

Who  comes  here?  Irf"^ 

MALCOLM.  The  worthy  thane__of  Ross.  ~|—  45 

LENNOX.   What  a  haste  looks  through  his  eyes  !    So  should 

he  look 
That  seems  to  speak  things  strange. 

Ross.  God  save  the  king  ! 

DUNCAN.   Whence  cam'st  thou,  worthy  thane? 

Ross.  From  Fife,  great  king  ; 

Where  the  Norweyan  banners  flout  the  sky 
And  fan  our  people  cold.  50 

Norway  himself,  with  terrible  numbers, 
Assisted  by  that  most  disloyal  traitor, 
The  thane  of  Cawdor,  began  a  dismal  conflict  ; 
Till  that  Bellona's  bridegroom,  lapp'd  in  proof, 

44.  [Exit  .  .  .  |  Ff  omit.  46-47-  So  ...  strange  Hanmei  | 

46.  a  haste  Fi  I  hast  FaFaF^  one  line  in  Ff. 


45.  Enter  Ross  and  ANGUS.  This  is  the  First  Folio  stage  direc- 
tion. Most  modem  editors  omit  'and  Angus,'  as  Angus  does  not 
speak  and  is  not  addressed.  But  in  the  next  scene  Ross  and  Angus 
together  bring  to  Macbeth  the  news  of  his  promotion. 

47.  seems  to  :  is  about  to.  "  '  Seem  '  in  Early  English  often  con- 
notes an  immediate  or  near  futurity."  —  Liddell.  The  D'Avenant 
version  reads  '  comes.'  Johnson  suggested  '  teems.' 

49-50.  The  Norwegian  banners  proudly  reared  aloft  and  fluttering 
in  the  wind  seemed  to  mock  or  insult  the  Scottish  sky,  and  the  sight 
of  them  struck  chills  of  dismay  into  our  countrymen.  'Flout'  and 
'fan'  are  examples  of  the  historic  present.  See  note,  line  15. 

54.  Bellona's  bridegroom.  Steevens  sneered  at  Shakespeare's  igno- 
rance in  making  Bellona,  the  old  Roman  goddess  of  war  (M/ttm), 


10          THE   NEW  HUDSON  SHAKESPEARE      ACT  1 

Confronted  him  with  self-comparisons,  55 

Point  against  point,  rebellious  arm  'gainst  arm, 
Curbing  his  lavish  spirit ;  and,  to  conclude, 
The  victory  fell  on  us. 

DUNCAN.  Great  happiness  ! 

Ross.  That  now 

Sweno,  the  Norways'  king,  craves  composition ; 
Nor  would  we  deign  him  burial  of  his  men  60 

Till  he  disbursed,  at  Saint  Colme's  inch, 
Ten  thousand  dollars  to  our  general  use. 

DUNCAN.    No  more  that  thane  of  Cawdor  shall  deceive 

58-59.  That  .  .  .  composition  61.  Colme's  inch  |  Colmes  ynch 

Steevens  |  two  lines  in  Ff,  the  first  FI  |  Colmes-hill  F2FaF4  |  Colmes- 
one  ending  king.  kill-isle  Pope. 

the  wife  of  Mars,  but  Shakespeare  poetically  makes  her  the  bride  of 
Macbeth.  —  lapp'd  in  proof :  clad  in  impenetrable  armor.  Cf. 'armed 
in  proof '  in  Richard  III,  V,  iii,  219. 

55.  Met  him  in  every  respect  upon  equal  terms. 

56.  The  punctuation  is  that  of  the  First  Folio.    Many  editors  put 
the  comma  after  '  rebellious.'    "  If  the  old  punctuation  be  right,  '  re- 
bellious,' being  applied  to  the  arm  of  the  loyal  combatant,  must  be 
taken  to  mean  'opposing,  resisting  assault.'  "  —  Clai. 

57.  Curbing  his  lavish  spirit :  checking  his  reckless  daring. 

58.  That :  so  that.    '  That '  often  expresses  result.    See  Abbott, 
§  283.    '  That '  is  an  overworked  word  in  Elizabethan  English. 

59.  composition :    terms  of  peace.    Cf .  the  phrase  '  composed  a 
quarrel.'    Cf.  Measure  for  Measure,  I,  ii,  2. 

61.  Saint  Colme's  inch:  the  island  of  Inchcolm.    It  is  in  the  Firth 
of  Forth  and  on  it  was  a  monastery  dedicated  to  St.  Columba.    '  Inch ' 
is  from  the  Gaelic  innt's,  'island,'  or  'land  by  a  river.'    "They  .  .  . 
obteined  of  Makbeth  for  a  <;reat  summe  of  gold,  that  such  of  their 
friends  as  were  slaine  at  this  last  bickering,  might  be  buried  in  saint 
Colmes  Inch."  —  Holinshed. 

62.  A  characteristic  Shakespearian  anachronism.     Dollars  were 
first  coined  in  the  sixteenth  century. 


SCENE  in  MACBETH  1 1 

Our  bosom  interest.    Go  pronounce  his  present  death, 
And  with  his  former  title  greet  Macbeth.  65 

Ross.    I  '11  see  it  done. 

DUNCAN.   What  he  hath  lost,  noble  Macbeth  hath  won. 

\_Exeun  f\ 

SCENE  III.  A  heath 
Thunder.   Enter  the  three  WITCHES 

1  WITCH.   Where  hast  thou  been,  sister? 

2  WITCH.    Killing  swine. 

3  WITCH.   Sister,  where  thou? 

i  WITCH.    A  sailor's  wife  had  chestnuts  in  her  lap, 
And   munch'd,  and  munch'd,  and  munch'd.    '  Give  me,' 
quoth  1 :  5 

'Aroint  thee,  witch  ! '  the  rump-fed  ronyon  cries. 
Her  husband  's  to  Aleppo  gone,  master  o'  the  Tiger  : 
But  in  a  sieve  I  '11  thither  sail, 

A  heath  Capell  |  A   heath  near       . .  .  I  |  separate  line  in  Ff  Globe. 
Forres  Globe  |  Ff  omit.  6.  Aroint  |  Aroynt  FiFa  I  Anoynt 

5.  munch'd  1  mouncht  Ff.  —  Give       F»F4. 

2.  "  Finallie  she  said  she  would  be  even  with  me  :  and  soone  after 
my  child,  my  cow,  my  sow  .  .  .  died,  or  was  strangelie  taken."  —  Scot. 

6.  'Aroint  thee!'  is  probably  an  old  exorcism  against  witches. 
Cf.  King  Lear,  III,  iv,  129.    The  etymology  is  uncertain.  — rump-fed. 
Either 'offal-fed' or 'pampered.'  —  ronyon:  mangy  creature.    A  gen- 
eral term  of  abuse.    See  Century.    So  in  The  Merry  Wives  of  Windsor, 
IV,  ii,  195.    Cf.  'roynish  clown,'  As  You  Like  It,  II,  ii,  8. 

7.  Tiger.    A  common  name  for  a  ship.    Cf.  Twelfth  A'ight,  V,  i,  65. 
In  Hakluyt's  Voyages  is  an  account  of  a  ship  of  this  name  that  went 
to  Tripolis  with  cargo  for  Aleppo  in  1583. 

8.  Witches  were  believed  to  go  to  sea  in  sieves.    "  They  can  go  in 
and  out  at  awger  holes,  and  saile  in  an  egge  shelle,  a  cockle  or  mus- 
cle shell,  through  and  under  the  tempestuous  seas."  —  Scot. 


12 


THE   NEW  HUDSON   SHAKESPEARE      ACT  i 


And,  like  a  rat  without  a  tail, 
I  '11  do,  I  '11  do,  and  I  '11  do. 

2  WITCH.    I  '11  give  thee  a  wind, 
i  WITCH.   Thou  'rt  kind. 

3  WITCH.   And  I  another. 

i  WITCH.    I  myself  have  all  the  other  ; 

And  the  very  points  they  blow, 
All  the  quarters  that  they  know 
I'  the  shipman's  card. 
I  '11  drain  him  dry  as  hay. 
Sleep  shall  neither  night  nor  day 
Hang  upon  his  pent-house  lid ; 
He  shall  live  a  man  forbid  : 
Weary  se'nnights  nine  times  nine 
Shall  he  dwindle,  peak,  and  pine  : 


10 


20 


12.  Thou  'rt  Capell  |  Th'art  Ff. 
18.  I'll  |  He  Fi  |  I  will  Pope. 


22.  se'nnights  |  Seu'nights  Ff  | 
seven-nights  Steevens. 


9.  Whatever  animal  form  the  witch  might  assume,  there  would 
always  be  some  defect.    Cf .  the  '  devil's  limp,'  '  the  cloven  foot,'  etc. 

10.  do :  work  him  mischief.    The  vagueness  adds  impressiveness. 
H-I2.  This  free  gift  of  a  wind  is  to  be  taken  as  an  act  of  sisterly 

kindness,  witches  being  thought  to  have  the  power  of  selling  winds. 
17.  shipman's  card.    Either  the  mariner's  compass,  i.e.  the  circular 
card  marked  with  the  points  of  the  compass,  or  a  '  chart '  showing 
the  points  of  the  compass. 

20.  pent-house  lid :  eyelid.    A  '  pent-house  '  is  a  shed  or  '  lean-to  ' 
sloping  down  from  a  main  building.     Drayton  and  Tennyson  use 
'pent-house'  to  describe  the  eyebrow. 

21.  forbid.    Either  'under  a  curse,'  or  'excommunicated.' 

22.  se'nnights:  seven-nights,  weeks.   Cf. 'fortnight '  (for 'fourteen- 
night ').    '  Sennet '  (sennit)  is  still  heard  in  English  dialect. 

23.  peak :  grow  thin.    Usually  in  the  expression  '  peak  and  pine.' 
See  Murray.    Holinshed,  describing  the  means  used  for  destroying 
King  Duff,  says  that  the  witches  were  found  "  resting  ...  an  image 


SCKNE  III 


MACBETH 


Though  his  bark  cannot  be  lost, 

Yet  it  shall  be  tempest-tost.  25 

Look  what  I  have. 

2  WITCH.   Show  me,  show  me. 

i  WITCH.   Here  I  have  a  pilot's  thumb, 

Wreck'd  as  homeward  he  did  come. 

[Drum  within'] 

3  WITCH.   A  drum,  a  drum  !  30 

Macbeth  doth  come. 

ALL.  The  weird  sisters,  hand  in  hand, 

Posters  of  the  sea  and  land, 
Thus  do  go  about,  about : 
Thrice  to  thine,  and  thrice  to  mine,  35 

And  thrice  again,  to  make  up  nine. 
Peace  !  the  charm  's  wound  up. 


39.  Wreck'd  |  Wrackt  Ff. 


32.  weird  Theobald  |  weyward  Ff. 


of  wax  at  the  fier,  resembling  in  each  feature  the  kings  person  .  .  . 
so  that  as  the  wax  euer  melted  so  did  the  kings  flesh." 

32.  weird.    The  Folios  spell  the  word  '  weyward,'  but  Holinshed 
has  '  weird ' :  "  These  women  were  either  the  weird  sisters,  that  is> 
(as  ye  would  say)  the  goddesses  of  destinie,  or  else  some  nymphs 
or  feiries  indued  with  knowledge  of  prophesie  by  their  necroman- 
tical  science,  bicause  euery  thing  came  to  passe  as  they  had  spoken." 
Probably  the  Folio  spelling  represents  a  southern  pronunciation  of 
the  word.    According  to  Skeat  '  weird '  as  an  adjective  here  means 
'  subservient  to  destiny.'    The  Anglo-Saxon  ivyrd  means  'fate,' '  des- 
tiny,' also  one  of  the  Norns,  or  Fates.    Gavin  Douglas  translates 
Parcae  in  the  sEneid,  III,  379,  by  'weird  sisteris.' 

33.  Posters:  messengers,  rapid  travelers.    Cf. 'post-haste.' 

36.  Here  the  witches  perform  a  sort  of  incantation  by  joining 
hands  and  dancing  round  in  a  ring,  three  rounds  for  each.  Odd  num- 
bers and  multiples  of  odd  numbers,  especially  three  and  nine,  were 
thought  to  have  great  magical  power  in  thus  winding  up  a  charm. 


14         THE   NEW  HUDSON  SHAKESPEARE      ACT  i 

Enter  MACBETH  and  BANQUO 

MACBETH.   So  foul  and  fair  a  day  I  have  not  seen. 

BANQUO.   How  far  is 't  call'd  to  Forres?   What  are  these 
So  wither'd,  and  so  wild  in  their  attire,  40 

That  look  not  like  th'  inhabitants  o'  the  earth, 
And  yet  are  on  't?    Live  you?  or  are  you  aught 
That  man  may  question?    You  seem  to  understand  me, 
By  each  at  once  her  choppy  finger  laying 
Upon  her  skinny  lips  :  you  should  be  women,  45 

And  yet  your  beards  forbid  me  to  interpret 
That  you  are  so. 

MACBETH.          Speak,  if  you  can  :  what  are  you? 

1  WITCH.   All   hail,    Macbeth !    hail  to  thee,  thane  of 

Glamis ! 

2  WITCH.   All   hail,    Macbeth  !    hail  to  thee,   thane  of 

Cawdor  ! 

3  WITCH.    All  hail,  Macbeth,  that  shall  be  king  here- 

after !  50 

38.  Scene  IV  Pope  39.  Forres  |  Foris  Pope  |  Soris  Ff. 

38.  Macbeth's  first  words  may  refer  only  to  the  symbolical  sun- 
shine and  storm  of  the  day,  or  to  a  day  fouled  with  storm  but  bright- 
ened with  victory.  Dowden  reads  here  a  deeper  meaning:  "Observe 
that  the  last  words  of  the  witches  in  the  opening  scene  of  the  play 
are  the  first  words  which  Macbeth  himself  utters :  '  Fair  is  foul,  and 
foul  is  fair.'  Shakespeare  intimates  by  this  that,  although  Macbeth 
has  not  yet  set  eyes  upon  these  hags,  the  connection  is  already  estab- 
lished between  his  soul  and  them.  Their  spells  have  already  wrought 
upon  his  blood." 

40.  "  Three  women  in  strange  and  wild  apparell."  —  Holinshed. 

48-50.  "  The  first  of  them  spake  and  said :  '  All  haile  Makbeth, 
thane  of  Glammis '  (for  he  had  latelie  entered  into  that  dignitie  and 
office  by  the  death  of  his  father  Sinell).  The  second  of  them  said: 


SCENE  ill  MACBETH  15 

BANQUO.   Good  sir,  why  do  you  start,  and  seem  to  fear 
Things  that  do  sound  so  fair  ?  —  I'  the  name  of  truth, 
Are  ye  fantastical,  or  that  indeed 
Which  outwardly  ye  show  ?    My  noble  partner 
You  greet  with  present  grace  and  great  prediction  55 

Of  noble  having  and  of  royal  hope, 
That  he  seems  rapt  withal ;  to  me  you  speak  not. 
If  you  can  look  into  the  seeds  of  time, 
And  say  which  grain  will  grow  and  which  will  not, 

57.  rapt  Pope  |  wrapt  Ff. 

'  Haile  Makbeth  thane  of  Cawder.'  But  the  third  said :  '  All  haile 
Makbeth  that  heereafter  shalt  be  king  of  Scotland.'  "  —  Holinshed 

53.  fantastical:  imaginary.  Cf.  line  139;  Richard  II,  I,  iii,  299. 
Holinshed  has  "vaine  fantasticall  illusion." 

55.  An  example  of  'respective  construction.'  'Present  grace'  re- 
fers to  '  noble  having '  (i.e.  '  possession  ')  and  '  great  prediction  '  to 
'royal  hope.'  Similarly  in  lines  60— 61,  'beg'  refers  to  'favours' 
and  '  fear '  to  '  hate.' 

57.  That:  so  that.  Cf.  I,  ii,  58.  —  withal:  therewith,  with  it.  Here 
'  withal '  is  an  adverb  (cf .  German  damif),  not,  as  often  in  Shakespeare, 
the  emphatic  form  of  'with,'  used  after  the  object,  generally  a  rela- 
tive, at  the  end  of  a  sentence.  Macbeth's  rapture  or  trance  of 
thought  on  this  occasion  is  deeply  significant  of  his  moral  predis- 
positions. Coleridge  remarks  upon  the  passage  as  follows: 

How  truly  Shakespearian  is  the  opening  of  Macbeth's  character  given  in 
the  itnpossessedness  of  Banquo's  mind,  wholly  present  to  the  present  object ; 
an  unsullied,  unscarified  mirror!  And  how  strictly  true  to  nature  it  is  that 
Banquo,  and  not  Macbeth  himself,  directs  our  notice  to  the  effect  produced  on 
Macbeth's  mind,  rendered  temptable  by  previous  dalliance  of  the  fancy  with 
ambitious  thoughts.  .  .  .  Banquo's  questions  are  those  of  natural  curiosity, 
such  as  a  girl  would  put  after  hearing  a  gipsy  tell  her  school-fellow's  fortune  ; 
—  all  perfectly  general,  or  rather  planless.  But  Macbeth,  lost  in  thought, 
raises  himself  to  speech  only  by  the  witches  being  about  to  depart.  .  .  .  and 
all  that  follows  is  reasoning  on  a  problem  already  discussed  in  his  mind, — 
on  a  hope  \\hich  he  welcomes,  and  the  doubts  concerning  the  attainment  of 
which  he  wishes  to  have  cleared  up. 


16          THE   NEW  HUDSON   SHAKESPEARE     ACT  I 

Speak,  then,  to  me,  who  neither  beg  nor  iear  60 

Your  favours  nor  your  hate. 

1  WITCH.    Hail ! 

2  WITCH.    Hail ! 

3  WITCH.    Hail ! 

1  WITCH.    Lesser  than  Macbeth,  and  greater.  65 

2  WITCH.    Not  so  happy,  yet  much  happier. 

3  WITCH.   Thou  shalt  get  kings,  though  thou  be  none : 
So  all  hail,  Macbeth  and  Banquo  ! 

i  WITCH.    Banquo  and  Macbeth,  all  hail ! 

MACBETH.    Stay,  you  imperfect  speakers,  tell  me  more  :  70 
By  Sinel's  death  I  know  I  am  thane  of  Glamis ; 
But  how  of  Cawdor?  the  thane  of  Cawdor  lives, 
A  prosperous  gentleman ;  and  to  be  king 
Stands  not  within  the  prospect  of  belief 
No  more  than  to  be  Cawdor.    Say  from  whence  75 

You  owe  this  strange  intelligence?  or  why 
Upon  this  blasted  heath  you  stop  our  way 
With  such  prophetic  greeting?  Speak,  I  charge  you. 

[WITCHES  vanish'] 

78.  Two  lines  in  Ff. 

73.  A  prosperous  gentleman.    There  is  seemingly  a  strange  discrep- 
ancy here.    In  the  preceding  scene,  Macbeth  is  said  to  have  met 
Cawdor  face  to  face  in  the  ranks  of  Norway  :  he  must  therefore  have 
known  him  to  be  a  rebel  and  traitor. 

74.  prospect  of  belief.    Cf.  'prospect  of  his  soul,'  Much  Ado  about 
Arothing,  IV,  i,  231;  'prospect  of  my  hopes,'  Twelfth  Night,  III, 
iv,  90.    "  Elizabethan  thinking  was  full  of  such  metaphors  for  the 
perceptive  powers  of  the  mind."  —  Liddell. 

76.  owe :  have,  possess.  This,  the  original  meaning  of  the  word,  is 
common  in  Shakespeare,  as  in  King  John,  II,  i,  247-248.  From  'to 
possess  another's  property '  comes  the  meaning  '  to  be  in  debt  for.' 


SCENE  in  MACBETH  17 

BANQUO.   The  earth  hath  bubbles  as  the  water  has, 
And  these  are  of  them.   Whither  are  they  vanish'd  ?          80 

MACBETH.  Into  the  air ;  and  what  seem'd  corporal  melted 
As  breath  into  the  wind.  Would  they  had  stay'd ! 

BANQUO.   Were  such  things  here  as  we  do  speak  about? 
Or  have  we  eaten  on  the  insane  root 
That  takes  the  reason  prisoner?  85 

MACBETH.   Your  children  shall  be  kings. 

BANQUO.  You  shall  be  king. 

MACBETH.   And  thane  of  Cawdor  too  :  went  it  not  so? 

BANQUO.   To  th'  selfsame  tune  and  words.    Who 's  here  ? 

Enter  Ross  and  ANGUS 

Ross.   The  king  hath  happily  receiv'd,  Macbeth, 
The  news  of  thy  success  :  and,  when  he  reads  90 

Thy  personal  venture  in  the  rebels'  fight, 
His  wonders  and  his  praises  do  contend 
Which  should  be  thine  or  his :  silenc'd  with  that, 

81-82.  Three  lines  in  Ff,  ending  89.  Scene  V  Pope 

corporal,  wind,  stay'd.  91.  rebels'  Theobald  |  rebels  Ff. 

84.  on  FiFaFs  I  of  F4. 

81.  corporal :  corporeal.    Shakespeare  never  uses  the  latter  form. 

84.  on  :  of.  Cf.  'on's  '  in  V,  i,  61. —  the  insane  root.  This  is  usu- 
ally taken  to  mean  hemlock  or  henbane,  but  it  is  probable  that 
Shakespeare  had  in  mind  this  passage  from  North's  Plutarch : 
"  They  were  compelled  to  live  of  herbs  and  roots  .  .  .  among  the 
which  there  was  one  that  .  .  .  made  them  out  of  their  wits.  For  he 
that  had  once  eaten  of  it,  his  memory  was  gone  from  him." —  The 
Life  of  Marcus  Antonius.  With  this  causal  use  of  'insane,'  cf.  'ob- 
livious '  in  V,  iii,  43.  For  the  pronunciation  '  in'sane '  see  Abbott, 
§  492.  Cf.  '  ob'scure,'  II,  iii,  45. 

92-93.  The  construction  is  involved  (cf. '  respective  construction,' 
line  55),  but  the  meaning  seems  to  be,  He  knows  not  whether  to 


18          THE   NEW  HUDSON   SHAKESPEARE     ACT  I 

In  viewing  o'er  the  rest  o'  the  selfsame  day, 

He  finds  thee  in  the  stout  Norweyan  ranks,  95 

Nothing  afeard  of  what  thyself  didst  make, 

Strange  images  of  death.   As  thick  as  tale 

Came  post  with  post ;  and  every  one  did  bear 

Thy  praises  in  his  kingdom's  great  defence, 

And  pour'd  them  down  before  him. 

ANGUS.  We  are  sent  100 

To  give  thee  from  our  royal  master  thanks ; 
Only  to  herald  thee  into  his  sight, 
Not  pay  thee. 

Ross.   And,  for  an  earnest  of  a  greater  honour, 
He  bade  me,  from  him,  call  thee  thane  of  Cawdor ;         105 
In  which  addition,  hail,  most  worthy  thane  ! 
For  it  is  thine. 

97.  tale   Ff  |  hail    Rowe    Globe  102.  herald  F4  I  harrold   FI  |  her- 
Camb  |  bale  Becket  conj.  raid  F2Fs. 

98.  Came    Rowe  |  Can  Ff  |  Ran  105.  bade  Theobald  |  bad  Ff. 
Delius  conj. 

express  his  own  wonder  at  these  achievements  or  to  sound  your 
praises. 

96.  Nothing :  not  at  all.    This  adverbial  use  is  common  in  Shake- 
speare. —  afeard.     The    past    participle    of    '  afear '    (Anglo-Saxon 
dftz'rati) ;  '  afraid '  is  the  participle  of  '  affray '  (Low  Lat.  ex-fridare). 
See  Murray.    '  Afeard  '  ('  'feard  ')  is  still  heard  in  dialect. 

97.  Strange  images  :  unusual  forms.    This  refers  to  the  heaps  of 
slain.    In  2  Henry  VI,  I,  iii,  179,  is  '  Image  of  pride  ';  in  King  Lear, 
II,  iv,  91, '  images  of  revolt.'    Cf.  '  picture  of  health.'  —  thick  as  tale : 
fast  as  could  be  counted.    "A  phrase  peculiarly  Shakespearian  in  its 
pregnant  condensation  .  .  .  transformed  into  bald  commonplace  by 
the  substitution  of  'thick  as  hail.'  " —  Churton  Collins.    'Thick'  for 
'fast'  occurs  in  2  Henry  IV,  II,  iii,  24;    'tell'  for  'count'  occurs 
often.    Cf. '  keep  tally,'  also  '  tale  '  in  Exodus,  v,  8. 

106.  addition :  title.    Something  added  to  a  man's  name  to  show 
his  rank.    Cf.  Ill,  i,  99 ;  Hamlet,  I,  iv,  20. 


SCENE  HI  MACBETH  ig 

BANQUO.   [Aside]  What,  can  the  devil  speak  true? 

MACBETH.   The   thane   of  Cawdor   lives :    why  do  you 

dress  me 
In  borrow'd  robes? 

ANGUS.  Who  was  the  thane  lives  yet ; 

But  under  heavy  judgment  bears  that  life  no 

Which  he  deserves  to  lose.   Whether  he  was  combin'd 
With  those  of  Norway,  or  did  line  the  rebel 
With  hidden  help  and  vantage,  or  that  with  both 
He  labour'd  in  his  country's  wreck,  I  know  not ; 
But  treasons  capital,  confess'd  and  prov'd,  115 

Have  overthrown  him. 

MACBETH.  \_Asidi\  Glamis,  and  thane  of  Cawdor  ! 

The  greatest  is  behind.    \To  Ross  and  ANGUS]  Thanks  for 

your  pains. 

[  To  BANQUO]  Do  you  not  hope  your  children  shall  be  kings, 
When  those  that  gave  the  thane  of  Cawdor  to  me 
Promis'd  no  less  to  them? 

BANQUO.  That  trusted  home  120 

Might  yet  enkindle  you  unto  the  crown, 
Besides  the  thane  of  Cawdor.    But  't  is  strange ; 
And  oftentimes,  to  win  us  to  our  harm, 

107,  116.  [Aside]  Ff  omit.  Malone  |  five   lines    in    Ff,   ending 

108-109.  why  .  .  .  robes  Capell  |  loose,  Norway,  help,  labour'd,  not. 
one  line  in  Ff.  117.  [To  Ross  .  .  .]  Ff  omit. 

111-114.  Which   .   .   .   know    not  118.  [TV  BANQUO]  Ff.  omit. 

112.  line:  strengthen,  reenforce.    So  in  i  Henry  IV,  II,  iii,  86. 

120.  home:  thoroughly.  Cf.  Measure  for  Measure,  IV,  iii,  148; 
Cymbeline,  III,  v,  92;  King  Lear,  III,  iii,  13. 

123-126.  It  is  nowise  likely  that  Shakespeare  was  a  reader  of 
Livy,  but  in  these  lines,  which  give,  as  Professor  Corson  says,  the 
entire  moral  of  the  tragedy,  is  a  striking  resemblance  to  a  passage  in 
Book  xxviii,  42,  4  :  "An  Syphaci  Numidisque  credis  ?  satis  sit  semel 


20          THE   NEW  HUDSON   SHAKESPEARE      ACT  l 

The  instruments  of  darkness  tell  us  truths, 

Win  us  with  honest  trifles,  to  betray  's  125 

In  deepest  consequence. 

Cousins,  a  word,  I  pray  you. 

MACBETH.  \_Asidi\  Two  truths  are  told, 

As  happy  prologues  to  the  swelling  act 
Of  the  imperial  theme.  —  I  thank  you,  gentlemen.  — 
\Aside\  This  supernatural  soliciting  130 

Cannot  be  ill  ;  cannot  be  good  :  if  ill, 
Why  hath  it  given  me  earnest  of  success, 
Commencing  in  a  truth  ?    I  am  thane  of  Cawdor  : 
If  good,  why  do  I  yield  to  that  suggestion 
Whose  horrid  image  doth  unfix  my  hair  ij5 

And  make  my  seated  heart  knock  at  my  ribs, 
Against  the  use  of  nature?    Present  fears 
Are  less  than  horrible  imaginings. 
My  thought,  whose  murder  yet  is  but  fantastical, 
Shakes  so  my  single  state  of  man  that  function  140 


127,  130.  [Aside]  Ff  omit.  135.  hair  Rowe  |  heire 

131-132.  if  ...  success  |  one  line  140-142.  that  .  .  .  not  |  two  lines 

in  Ff.  in  Ff. 

creditum  :  non  semper  temeritas  est  felix,  et  fraus  fidem  in  parvis  sibi 
praestruit  ut,  quum  operae  pretium  sit,  cum  mercede  magna  fallit." 

128-129.  The  image  is  of  the  stage,  with  an  august  drama  of  kingly 
state  to  be  performed  ;  the  inspiring  prologue  has  been  spoken,  and 
the  glorious  action  is  about  to  begin.  —  imperial  theme:  theme  of 
empire.  Cf.  'sterile  curse,'  Julius  Ctrsar,  I,  ii,  9,  and  'slanderous 
loads,  ''Julius  C<zsar,  IV,  i,  20.  "  In  such  phrases  the  adjective  defines 
the  sphere  or  character  of  the  noun."  —  A.  W.  Verity. 

134.  suggestion  :  temptation.    Cf.  The  Tempest,  II,  i,  288. 

137.  use:  custom.  —  fears:  dangers,  terrors.    Effect  for  cause. 

139-141.  My  thought,  though  it  is  only  of  a  murder  in  imagination, 
so  disturbs  my  feeble  human  condition  that  the  power  of  action  is 


SCENE  ill  MACBETH  2 1 

Is  smother'd  in  surmise,  and  nothing  is 
But  what  is  not. 

BANQUO.  Look,  how  our  partner 's  rapt. 

MACBETH.    \_Aside~]  If  chance  will  have  me  king,  why, 

chance  may  crown  me, 
Without  my  stir. 

BANQUO.  New  honours  come  upon  him, 

Like  our  strange  garments,  cleave  not  to  their  mould  145 
But  with  the  aid  of  use. 

MACBETH.  \_Aside~\  Come  what  come  may, 

Time  and  the  hour  runs  through  the  roughest  day. 

BANQUO.   Worthy  Macbeth,  we  stay  upon  your  leisure. 

143.  Look  .  .  .  rapt  |  separate  line  143.  Two  lines  in  Ff. 

in  Ff.  143,  146.  [Aside]  Ff  omit. 

lost  in  speculation.  Shakespeare  often  uses  '  single  '  in  the  sense  of 
'weak,'  as  in  I,  vi,  16.  Staunton  quotes  as  a  parallel  passage  Julius 
C&sar,  II,  i,  63-69,  and  interprets  '  state '  as  '  kingdom.' 

141-142.  nothing  is  But  what  is  not.  Facts  are  lost  sight  of ;  he 
sees  nothing  but  what  is  unreal,  nothing  but  the  spectres  of  his  own 
fancy.  Macbeth's  conscience  here  acts  through  his  imagination,  sets 
it  all  on  fire,  and  he  is  terror-stricken,  and  lost  to  the  things  before 
him,  as  the  elements  of  evil  within  him  gather  and  fashion  them- 
selves into  the  wicked  purpose.  Of  this  wonderful  development  of 
character  Coleridge  says:  "So  surely  is  the  guilt  in  its  germ  ante- 
rior to  the  supposed  cause  and  immediate  temptation."  And  again  : 
"  Every  word  of  his  soliloquy  shows  the  early  birth-date  of  his  guilt. 
He  wishes  the  end,  but  is  irresolute  as  to  the  means ;  conscience 
distinctly  warns  him,  and  he  lulls  it  imperfectly." 

147.  Time  and  the  hour.  A  reduplicate  phrase  like  '  time  and  tide,' 
probably  proverbial.  '  II  tempo  e  1'  ore '  occurs  in  one  of  Michel- 
angelo's sonnets.  The  sense  of  the  line  in  the  text  is  thus  explained 
by  Heath  :  "  The  advantage  of  time  and  of  seizing  the  favourable 
hour,  whenever  it  shall  present  itself,  will  enable  me  to  make  my 
way  through  all  obstruction  and  opposition.  Every  one  knows  the 
Spanish  proverb,  — '  Time  and  I  against  any  two.' " 


22          THE   NEW  HUDSON   SHAKESPEARE     ACT  1 

MACBETH.   Give  me  your   favour :    my  dull  brain  was 
wrought 

With  things  forgotten.    Kind  gentlemen,  your  pains          150 

Are  register'd  where  every  day  I  turn 

The  leaf  to  read  them.    Let  us  toward  the  king. 

Think  upon  what  hath  chanc'd ;  and,  at  more  time, 

The  interim  having  weigh'd  it,  let  us  speak 

Our  free  hearts  each  to  other. 

BANQUO.  Very  gladly.  -155 

MACBETH.   Till  then,  enough.    Come,  friends.  \_Exeunf\ 

SCENE  IV.  Forres.    The  palace 

Flourish.   Enter  DUNCAN,  MALCOLM,  DONALBAIN,  LENNOX, 

and  Attendants 

DUNCAN.    Is  execution  done  on  Cawdor?   Are  not 
Those  in  commission  yet  return'd? 

156.  Two  lines  in  Ff.  i.  DUNCAN  Capell  |  King  Ff  (and 

SCENE  IV  |  Scene  VI  Pope.  throughout  the  scene).  —  Is  .  .  .  Caw- 

Enter  DUNCAN  .  .  .  LENNOX  |  dor  |  one  line  in  Ff.  —  Are  F2FsF4  I 

Enter  King,  Lenox,  Malcolme,  Don-  Or  Fi. 

albaine  Ff. 

149.  favour :  indulgence.  —  wrought :  agitated,  worked  up.  Cf . 
The  Winter's  Tale,  V,  iii,  58.  Macbeth  puts  forth  a  pretext  to  hide 
the  true  cause  of  his  trance  of  guilty  thought. 

151.  register'd:  noted  on  the  table  of  memory.   Cf.  Hamlet,  I,  v,  98. 

154.  The  interim  having  weigh'd  it :  the  lapse  of  time  having  en- 
abled us  to  see  it  in  its  true  light.  But  Abbott,  §  202,  would  construe 
this  as  a  case  of  the  omission  of  the  preposition  in  adverbial  expres- 
sions of  time. 

SCENE  IV.  This  scene  takes  place  the  day  after  the  previous 
scenes,  which  may  be  regarded  as  happening  on  one  day.  "  The  be- 
haviour of  the  thane  of  Cawdor  corresponds  in  almost  every  circum- 
stance with  that  of  the  unfortunate  Eari  of  Essex,  as  related  by  Stowe." 
—  Steevens.  The  execution  of  the  Earl  of  Essex  took  place  in  1601, 


SCENE  iv  MACBETH  23 

MALCOLM.  My  liege, 

They  are  not  yet  come  back.   But  I  have  spoke 
With  one  that  saw  him  die ;  who  did  report 
That  very  frankly  he  confess'd  his  treasons,  5 

Implor'd  your  highness'  pardon,  and  set  forth 
A  deep  repentance :  nothing  in  his  life 
Became  him  like  the  leaving  it ;  he  died 
As  one  that  had  been  studied  in  his  death 
To  throw  away  the  dearest  thing  he  ow'd,  10 

As  't  were  a  careless  trifle. 

DUNCAN.  There 's  no  art 

To  find  the  mind's  construction  in  the  face : 
He  was  a  gentleman  on  whom  I  built 
An  absolute  trust. 

Enter  MACBETH,  BANQUO,  Ross,  and  ANGUS 

O  worthiest  cousin  ! 

The  sin  of  my  ingratitude  even  now  15 

Was  heavy  on  me.   Thou  art  so  far  before, 

2-8.  My  .  .  .  died  |  seven  lines  in       repentance,  him,  died. 
Ff,  ending  back,   die,   he,  pardon,  10.  ow'd  Ff  |  own'd  Warburton. 

9.  studied  in  his  death :  well  instructed  in  the  art  of  dying. 

10.  ow'd :  owned.    So  in  I,  iii,  76.    See  note. 

11.  careless:  uncared for.   So 'sightless,' I,  vii,  23.   See  Abbott, §  3. 
13-14.  Duncan's  words  spoken  as  Macbeth  enters  are  often  quoted 

as  a  splendid  example  of  that  '  tragic  irony '  (when  a  speaker  uncon- 
sciously uses  words  that  have  a  double  meaning  to  his  hearers)  which 
pervades  the  whole  of  this  scene.  "  Duncan's  childlike  spirit  makes 
a  moment's  pause  of  wonder  at  the  act  of  treachery,  and  then  flings 
itself,  like  Gloucester  in  King  Lear,  with  still  more  absolute  trust 
and  still  more  want  of  reflection,  into  the  toils  of  a  far  deeper  and 
darker  treason."  —  Moberly. 


24          THE   NEW  HUDSON   SHAKESPEARE      ACT  i 

That  swiftest  wing  of  recompense  is  slow 

To  overtake  thee.   Would  thou  hadst  less  deserv'd, 

That  the  proportion  both  of  thanks  and  payment 

Might  have  been  mine  !    Only  I  have  left  to  say,  20 

More  is  thy  due  than  more  than  all  can  pay. 

MACBETH.   The  service  and  the  loyalty  I  owe, 
In  doing  it,  pays  itself.    Your  highness'  part 
Is  to  receive  our  duties ;  and  our  duties 
Are  to  your  throne  and  state  children  and  servants ;          25 
Which  do  but  what  they  should,  by  doing  every  thing 
Safe  toward  your  love  and  honour. 

DUNCAN.  Welcome  hither : 

I  have  begun  to  plant  thee,  and  will  labour 
To  make  thee  full  of  growing.    Noble  Banquo, 
That  hast  no  less  deserv'd,  nor  must  be  known  30 

No  less  to  have  done  so,  let  me  infold  thee 
And  hold  thee  to  my  heart. 

23-27.  Your  .  .  .  honour  |  five  lines       should,  love,  honour, 
in  Ff,  ending  receive  our  duties,  state,  27.  Safe  Ff  |  Shap'd  Hanmer. 

19-20.  That  my  return  of  thanks  and  payment  might  have  been 
in  the  right  proportion  to  thy  deserts,  or  in  the  due  relation  to  them. 

24-25.  '  Duties '  is  here  put,  apparently,  for  the  faculties  and  labors 
of  duty ;  the  meaning  being,  All  our  works  and  forces  of  duty  are 
children  and  servants  to  your  throne  and  state.  Hypocrisy  and 
hyperbole  are  apt  to  go  together ;  and  so  here  Macbeth  overacts 
the  part  of  loyalty,  and  tries  how  high  he  can  strain  up  his  expres- 
sion of  it.  We  have  a  parallel  instance  in  Goneril's  and  Regan's 
finely  worded  professions  of  love.  Such  high-pressure  rhetoric  is 
the  right  vernacular  of  hollowness. 

27.  Safe  toward  your  love  and  honour.  One  of  the  many  condensed, 
elliptical  expressions  in  the  play.  The  meaning  may  be,  With  a  firm 
and  sure  purpose  to  have  you  loved  and  honored ;  or,  So  as  to  merit 
and  secure  love  and  honor  from  you.  It  may  mean  both. 


SCENE  iv  MACBETH  25 

BANQUO.  There  if  I  grow, 

The  harvest  is  your  own. 

DUNCAN.  My  plenteous  joys, 

Wanton  in  fulness,  seek  to  hide  themselves 
In  drops  of  sorrow.    Sons,  kinsmen,  thanes,  35 

And  you  whose  places  are  the  nearest,  know, 
We  will  establish  our  estate  upon 
Our  eldest,  Malcolm,  whom  we  name  hereafter 
The  Prince  of  Cumberland ;  which  honour  must 
Not  unaccompanied  invest  him  only,  40 

But  signs  of  nobleness,  like  stars,  shall  shine 
On  all  deservers.  From  hence  to  Inverness, 
And  bind  us  further  to  you. 

MACBETH.   The  rest  is  labour,  which  is  not  us'd  for  you. 
I  '11  be  myself  the  harbinger,  and  make  joyful  45 

35.  kinsmen  Fi  |  kinsman  F2FsF4.  45.  harbinger    Rowe  |  Herbenger 

43.  Inverness  Pope  |  Envernes  Ff.       FiFaFs  I  Harbenger  F4. 

33-35.  Cf.  Much  Ado  about  Nothing,  I,  i,  22 ;  Romeo  and  Juliet, 
III,  ii,  102-104  ;  The  Winter's  Tale,  V,  ii,  50.  —  Wanton :  unrestrained, 
undisciplined  (the  original  sense  of  the  word). 

38-39.  "  King  Duncane,  hauing  two  sonnes  by  his  wife  which  was 
the  daughter  of  Siward  earle  of  Northumberland,  he  made  the  elder 
of  them  called  Malcolme  prince  of  Cumberland,  as  it  were  thereby 
to  appoint  him  his  successor  in  the  kingdome,  immediatelie  after 
his  deceasse.  Mackbeth  sore  troubled  herewith  ...  he  began  to  take 
counsell  how  he  might  vsurpe  the  kingdome  by  force,  hauing  a  iust 
quarell  so  to  doo  (as  he  tooke  the  matter)  for  that  Duncane  did 
what  in  him  lay  to  defraud  him."  —  Holinshed. 

44.  Even  the  repose,  which  is  not  taken  for  your  sake  or  spent 
in  your  service,  is  a  labor  to  me. 

45.  harbinger :  an  officer  who  goes  in  advance  to  make  provision 
for  the  night's  shelter.    The  Middle  English  form  is  herbergeour  and 
is  found  in  Chaucer,  The  Man  of  Lauues  Tale,  997 :  "  herbergeours 
that  wenten  him  biforn." 


26          THE   NEW  HUDSON   SHAKESPEARE     ACT  l 

The  hearing  of  my  wife  with  your  approach ; 
So  humbly  take  my  leave. 

DUNCAN.  My  worthy  Cawdor  ! 

MACBETH.    [Aside]  The  Prince  of  Cumberland  !  that  is 

a  step 

On  which  I  must  fall  down,  or  else  o'erleap, 
For  in  my  way  it  lies.   Stars,  hide  your  fires ;  50 

Let  not  light  see  my  black  and  deep  desires ; 
The  eye  wink  at  the  hand ;  yet  let  that  be 
Which  the  eye  fears,  when  it  is  done,  to  see.  [Exit] 

DUNCAN.   True,  worthy  Banquo ;  he  is  full  so  valiant, 
And  in  his  commendations  I  am  fed ;  55 

It  is  a  banquet  to  me.    Let 's  after  him, 
Whose  care  is  gone  before  to  bid  us  welcome. 
It  is  a  peerless  kinsman.  \_Flourish.   Exeunt] 


SCENE  V.  Inverness.    MACBETH'S  castle 
Enter  LADY  MACBETH,  alone,  with  a  letter 

LADY  MACBETH.  \_Reads\  They  met  me  in  the  day  of  suc- 
cess ;  and  I  have  learn 'd  by  the  perfect'st  report,  they  have 

48.  [Aside]  Ff  omit.  LADY    MACBETH  |  Macbeth's 

SCENE  V  I  Scene  VII  Pope.— In-       Wife  Ff . 
verness  .  .  .  castle  \  Ff  omit.  i.  LADY  MACBETH  |  Lady  Ff. 

50.  Stars,  hide  your  fires.  We  are  not  to  understand  from  this 
that  the  present  scene  takes  place  at  night.  Macbeth  is  evidently 
contemplating  night  as  the  time  when  the  murder  is  to  be  done. 

52.  The  eye  wink  at :  Let  the  eye  refuse  to  see.  '  Wink  at '  some- 
times means  '  encourage '  or  '  prompt,'  but  is  used  here  literally. 

54.  True,  worthy  Banquo.  Duncan  and  Banquo  have  been  speak- 
ing about  Macbeth  during  his  soliloquy.  The  beginning  of  Duncan's 
speech  refers  to  something  Banquo  has  said  in  praise  of  Macbeth. 


SCENE  v  MACBETH  27 

more  in  them  than  mortal  knowledge.  When  I  burn'd  in  desire 
to  question  them  further,  they  made  themselves  air,  into  which 
they  vanish'd.  Whiles  I  stood  rapt  in  the  wonder  of  it,  came 
missives  from  the  King,  who  all-hail'd  me  'Thane  of  Cawdor'; 
by  which  title,  before,  these  weird  sisters  saluted  me,  and 
referr'd  me  to  the  coming  on  of  time,  with  « Hail,  king  that 
shalt  be ! '  This  have  I  thought  good  to  deliver  thee,  my  dearest 
partner  of  greatness,  that  thou  mightst  not  lose  the  dues  of  re- 
joicing, by  being  ignorant  of  what  greatness  is  promis'd  thee. 
Lay  it  to  thy  heart,  and  farewell.  12 

Glamis  thou  art,  and  Cawdor,  and  shalt  be 

What  thou  art  promis'd.   Yet  do  I  fear  thy  nature ; 

It  is  too  full  o'  the  milk  of  human  kindness 

To  catch  the  nearest  way :  thou  wouldst  be  great; 

Art  not  without  ambition,  but  without 

The  illness  should  attend  it :  what  thou  wouldst  highly, 

That  wouldst  thou  holily  ;  wouldst  not  play  false,  19 

And  yet  wouldst  wrongly  win  :  thou  'Idst  have,  great  Glamis, 

ao-ai.  And  ...  it   Pope  |  three  lines  in  Ff,  ending  win,  cries,  it. 

6.  missives  :  messengers.    So  in  Antony  and  Cleopatra,  II,  ii,  74. 

15.  human  kindness.  "'Humankind'  is  still  an  expression  for 
human  nature,  and  the  sense  of  the  passage  .  .  .  would  be  more 
obvious  if  the  whole  phrase  were  printed  as  one  word,  not  '  human 
kindness '  but  '  humankind-ness ' :  —  that  shrinking  from  what  is  not 
natural.  .  .  .  '  Milk  of  humankind-ness '  suggests  absence  of  hard- 
ness but  it  equally  connotes  natural,  inherited  traditional  feelings, 
imbibed  at  the  mother's  breast."  —  R.  G.  Moulton. 

18.  illness :  unscrupulousness.  See  Murray.  "  Macbeth  is  de- 
scribed by  Lady  Macbeth  so  as  at  the  same  time  to  reveal  her  own 
character.  Could  he  have  every  thing  he  wanted,  he  would  rather 
have  it  innocently;  —  ignorant,  as,  alas,  how  many  of  us  are!  that 
he  who  wishes  a  temporal  end  for  itself  does  in  truth  will  the  means ; 
and  hence  the  danger  of  indulging  fancies."  —  Coleridge. 


28          THE   NEW  HUDSON   SHAKESPEARE     ACT  i 

That  which  cries,  '  Thus  thou  must  do,'  if  thou  have  it;    21 

And  that  which  rather  thou  dost  fear  to  do 

Than  wishest  should  be  undone.    Hie  thee  hither, 

That  I  may  pour  my  spirits  in  thine  ear, 

And  chastise  with  the  valour  of  my  tongue  25 

All  that  impedes  thee  from  the  golden  round 

Which  fate  and  metaphysical  aid  doth  seem 

To  have  thee  crown'd  withal. 

Enter  a  MESSENGER 

What  is  your  tidings? 

MESSENGER.   The  king  comes  here  to-night. 
LADY  MACBETH.  Thou  'rt  mad  to  say  it : 

26.  impedes  thee  |  impeides  thee  27.  seem  |  seek  Johnson  conj. 

Fi  i  thee  hinders  F2FaF4.  28.  Two  lines  in  Ff. 

21-23.  A  passage  involved  and  obscure.  Does  'That  which'  of 
line  21  ififer  to  the  crown  personified,  or  to  the  murder  of  Duncan  ? 
In  the  Folios  are  no  inverted  commas,  and  in  some  modern  editions 
(Clar)  they  are  put  at  the  end  of  line  21 ;  in  others  (Globe  Camb) 
Pope  is  followed  and  they  are  put  after  '  undone.'  In  previous  edi- 
tions of  Hudson's  Shakespeare,  'An  act  which'  was  substituted  for 
'And  that  which'  in  line  22,  'that  which'  being  supposed  to  have 
crept  in  by  mistake  from  the  preceding  line.  If  the  crown  is  the 
thing  which  Glamis  would  have,  and  if  the  crown  is  here  repre- 
sented as  crying  out  to  him  "  Thus  thou  must  do,  if  thou  have," 
there  appears  no  way  of  getting  the  sense  but  by  substituting  '  me  ' 
for  'it.'  If  we  suppose  only  the  words  "Thus  thou  must  do"  to  be 
spoken  by  the  crown,  and  the  following  words  to  be  spoken  by  Lady 
Macbeth  in  her  own  person,  then  '  it '  is  right ;  and  this  is  probably 
the  way  the  passage  ought  to  be  understood  and  printed.  Johnson 
saw  the  difficulty,  and  proposed  to  read  "  if  thou  have  me." 

26.  golden  round  :  crown.   Cf.  IV,  i,  88 ;  Richard If,  III,  ii,  160-161. 

27.  metaphysical :  supernatural.  —  seem.    See  note,  I,  ii,  47. 


SCENE  v  MACBETH  2Q 

Is  not  thy  master  with  him  ?  who,  were 't  so,  30 

Would  have  inform'd  for  preparation. 

MESSENGER.    So  please  you,  it  is  true ;  our  thane  is  coming. 
One  of  my  fellows  had  the  speed  of  him, 
Who,  almost  dead  for  breath,  had  scarcely  more 
Than  would  make  up  his  message. 

LADY  MACBETH.  Give  him  tending ;     35 

He  brings  great  news.  [Exit  MESSENGER] 

The  raven  himself  is  hoarse 
That  croaks  the  fatal  entrance  of  Duncan 
Under  my  battlements.   Come,  you  spirits 
That  tend  on  mortal  thoughts,  unsex  me  here ; 
And  fill  me  from  the  crown  to  the  toe  top-full  40 

Of  direst  cruelty  !  make  thick  my  blood  ; 
Stop  up  th'  access  and  passage  to  remorse, 
That  no  compunctious  visitings  of  nature 
Shake  my  fell  purpose,  nor  keep  peace  between 

36.  Two  lines  in  Ff. 

36-38.  The  raven  has  made  himself  hoarse  with  croaking,  or  has 
croaked  so  loud  and  long  as  to  become  hoarse,  over  the  fatal  en- 
trance, etc.  The  ominousness  of  the  raven's  croak  is  implied  else- 
where in  Shakespeare.  Cf.  Othello,  IV,  i,  21  ;  Hamlet,  III,  ii,  264; 
2  Henry  VI,  III,  ii,  40.  '  Entrance  '  is  here  trisyllabic.  See  Abbott, 

§477- 

39.  mortal:  deadly.    So  in  III,  iv,  81  ;  IV,  iii,  3. 

42.  remorse :  pity,  compassion.    So  in  As  You  Like  It,  I,  iii,  72 ; 
The  Tempest,  V,  i,  76. 

43.  compunctious  visitings  of  nature  :  natural  feelings  of  compunc- 
tion.   A  common  Shakespearian  construction. 

44-45.  keep  peace  between  The  effect  and  it :  come  as  peacemaker 
between  the  purpose  and  the  effect.  Another  elliptical  expression.  In 
previous  editions  of  Hudson's  Shakespeare  'break*  was  substituted 
for  'keep.' 


30          THE   NEW  HUDSON   SHAKESPEARE     ACT  I 

The  effect  and  it !    Come  to  my  woman's  breasts,  45 

And  take  my  milk  for  gall,  you  murd'ring  ministers, 

Wherever  in  your  sightless  substances 

You  wait  on  nature's  mischief  !    Come,  thick  night, 

And  pall  thee  in  the  dunnest  smoke  of  hell, 

That  my  keen  knife  see  not  the  wound  it  makes,  5° 

Nor  heaven  peep  through  the  blanket  of  the  dark, 

To  cry,  '  Hold,  hold ! ' 


Great  Glamis  !  worthy  Cawdor  ! 
Greater  than  both,  by  the  all-hail  hereafter  ! 
Thy  letters  have  transported  me  beyond 

45.  it  FsF4  I  hit  FiFa. 

46.  take  my  milk  for  gall.    Either,  Take  away  my  milk  and  give 
me  gall  instead  (Johnson) ;  or,  Change  my  milk  into  gall  by  your 
malignant  power  (Schmidt).    In  support  of  Schmidt's  interpretation, 
Manly  quotes  Merry  Wives  of  Windsor,  IV,  iv,  33  ;  Hamlet,  I,  i,  163  ; 
King  Lear,  II,  iv,  166 ;  III,  iv,  60.   In  her  fiery  thirst  for  power,  Lady 
Macbeth  feels  that  her  woman's  heart  is  unequal  to  the  calls  of  her 
ambition,  and  she  would  fain  exchange  her  "milk  of  human  kind- 
ness "  for  a  fiercer  infusion. 

47.  sightless:  invisible.    See  note  on  'careless,'  I,  iv,  n. 

49.  pall:  shroud,  wrap  as  in  a  pall  (Lat.  pallium,  'cloak'). — 
dunnest  smoke.  Cf.  Milton's  "dun.  shades,"  Comus,  127  ;  "dun  air," 
Paradise  Lost,  III,  72. 

51.  The  metaphor  of  darkness  being  a  blanket  wrapped  round 
the  world,  so  as  to  keep  the  Divine  Eye  from  seeing  the  deed 
which  Lady  Macbeth  longs  and  expects  to  have  done,  is  just  such 
as  it  was  fitting  for  the  boldest  of  poets  to  put  into  the  mouth  of 
the  boldest  of  women.  But  the  expressions  'peep'  and  'blanket' 
have  seemed  undignified  to  many  commentators,  and  some  strange 
substitutes  have  been  suggested.  Coleridge  proposed  '  blank  height ' 
for  '  blanket ' !  In  Romeo  and  Juliet,  III,  ii,  5,  we  have  "  Spread  thy 


SCENE  v  MACBETH  31 

This  ignorant  present,  and  I  feel  now  55 

The  future  in  the  instant. 

MACBETH.  My  dearest  love, 

Duncan  comes  here  to-night. 

LADY  MACBETH.  And  when  goes  hence  ? 

MACBETH.   To-morrow,  as  he  purposes. 

LADY  MACBETH.  O,  never 

Shall  sun  that  morrow  see  1 

Your  face,  my  thane,  is  as  a  book  where  men  60 

May  read  strange  matters.   To  beguile  the  time, 
Look  like  the  time ;  bear  welcome  in  your  eye, 
Your  hand,  your  tongue ;  look  like  the  innocent  flower, 
But  be  the  serpent  under 't.    He  that 's  coming 
Must  be  provided  for ;  and  you  shall  put  65 

This  night's  great  business  into  my  dispatch, 
Which  shall  to  all  our  nights  and  days  to  come 
Give  solely  sovereign  sway  and  masterdom. 

MACBETH.    We  will  speak  further. 

61.  matters.  To  ...  time,  Theobald  |  matters,  to  ...  time.  Ff. 

close  curtain,  love-performing  night."  Cf.  The  Faerie  Queene,  I,  iv, 
44 :  "  darkesome  night  displayd  Her  coleblack  curtein."  Malone 
quotes  from  Drayton's  Mortimeriados :  "  sullen  night  in  mistie  rugge 
is  wrapp'd." 

56.  instant :  present.  The  enthusiasm  of  her  newly-kindled  expec- 
tation quickens  the  dull  present  with  the  spirit  of  the  future,  and  gives 
to  hope  the  life  and  substance  of  fruition. 

59.  Abbott,  §  511,  in  a  suggestive  note  on  "single  lines  with  two 
or  three  accents  interspersed  amid  the  ordinary  verses  of  five  ac- 
cents," says  that  in  this  broken  line  is  indicated  the  way  in  which 
Lady  Macbeth  pauses  to  watch  the  effect  of  her  words. 

62.  '  Time '  is  here  put  for  its  contents,  or  what  occurs  in  time.  It 
is  a  time  of  full-hearted  welcome  and  hospitality ;  and  such  are  the 
looks  which  Macbeth  is  urged  to  counterfeit. 


32          THE   NEW  HUDSON   SHAKESPEARE      ACT  I 

LADY  MACBETH.  Only  look  up  clear  ; 

To  alter  favour  ever  is  to  fear.  70 

Leave  all  the  rest  to  me. 


SCENE  VI.  Before  MACBETH'S  castle 

Hautboys  and  torches.  Enter  DUNCAN,  MALCOLM,  DONAL- 
BAIN,  BANQUO,  LENNOX,  MACDUFF,  Ross.  ANGUS,  and 
Attendants 

DUNCAN.   This  castle  hath  a  pleasant  seat  ;  the  air 
Nimbly  and  sweetly  recommends  itself 
Unto  our  gentle  senses. 

BANQUO.  This  guest  of  summer, 

The  temple-haunting  martlet,  does  approve, 

SCENE  VI  |  Scene  VIII  Pope.—  i-a.  the  air  ...  itself  I  one  line 

Before  .  .  .  castle  \  Ff  omit.  —  Enter       in  Ff  . 
DUNCAN  |  Enter  King  Ff.  4.  martlet  Rowe  I  Barlet  Ff. 

70.  favour  :  countenance.  Lady  Macbeth  is  here  mad,  or  inspired, 
with  a  kind  of  extemporized  ferocity,  so  that  she  feels  herself  able 
to  perform  without  flinching  the  crime  she  has  conceived,  if  her  hus- 
band will  only  keep  his  face  from  telling  any  tales  of  their  purpose. 
As  Coleridge  says,  "  Hers  is  the  mock  fortitude  of  a  mind  deluded  by 
ambition  :  she  shames  her  husband  with  a  superhuman  audacity  of 
fancy  which  she  cannot  support,  but  sinks  in  the  season  of  remorse, 
and  dies  in  suicidal  agony." 

1-3.  The  air,  by  its  purity  and  sweetness,  attempers  our  senses  to 
its  own  state,  and  so  makes  them  gentle,  or  sweetens  them  into  gen- 
tleness. A  proleptical  form  of  speech. 

The  subject  of  this  quiet  and  easy  conversation  gives  that  repose  so  neces- 
sary to  the  mind  after  the  tumultuous  bustle  of  the  preceding  scenes,  and  per- 
fectly contrasts  the  scene  of  horror  that  immediately  succeeds.  .  .  .  This  also 
is  frequently  the  practice  of  Homer,  who,  from  the  midst  of  battles  and  hor- 
rors, relieves  and  refreshes  the  mind  of  the  reader,  by  introducing  some  quiet 
rural  image  or  picture  of  familiar  domestic  life.  —  Sir  J.  Reynolds. 

4.  approve:  prove,  make  evident.    So  in  2  Corinthians,  vii,  n. 


SCENE  \n  MACBETH  33 

By  his  lov'd  mansionry,  that  the  heaven's  breath  5 

Smells  wooingly  here  :  no  jutty,  frieze, 

Buttress,  nor  coign  of  vantage,  but  this  bird 

Hath  made  his  pendent  bed  and  procreant  cradle  : 

Where  they  most  breed  and  haunt,  I  have  observ'd 

The  air  is  delicate. 

Enter  LADY  MACBETH 

DUNCAN.  See,  see,  our  honour'd  hostess  !  ic 

The  love  that  follows  us  sometime  is  our  trouble, 
Which  still  we  thank  as  love.    Herein  I  teach  you 
How  you  shall  bid  God  'ild  us  for  your  pains, 
And  thank  us  for  your  trouble. 

LADY  MACBETH.  All  our  service 

In  every  point  twice  done  and  then  done  double  15 

Were  poor  and  single  business  to  contend 
Against  those  honours  deep  and  broad  wherewith 

5.  mansionry   Theobald  |  Man-  13.  God  'ild  I  God-eyld  Ff. 
sonry  Ff  |  masonry  Pope.  17-30.  Against  .  .  .  hermits  |  four 

9.  most  Rowe  |  must  Ff.  lines  in  Ff,  ending  broad,  house,  dig- 

10.  Enter  . .  .  |  Enter  Lady  Ff.          nities,  hermits. 

6.  jutty  :  projection.    The  Folios  read 'jutty  frieze.'    See  Murray. 

7.  coign  of  vantage  :  convenient  corner.    A  '  coign  '  ('  quoin  *)  is  '  a 
projecting  corner,'  or  '  a  comer-stone  at  the  exterior  angle  of  a  build- 
ing.'   So  in  Coriolanus,  V,  iv,  i:  "See  you  yon  coign  o'  the  Capitol, 
yon  corner-stone?"    See  Murray. 

11.  sometime:    sometimes.     Shakespeare  and   Milton    use   both 
forms. 

13.  bid  God  'ild :  pray  God  repay.  The  kind-hearted  monarch 
means  that  his  love  is  what  puts  him  upon  troubling  them  thus,  and 
therefore  they  will  be  grateful  for  the  pains  he  causes  them.  '  God 
'ild '  ('  God  'ield,'  '  God  dild,'  etc.)  is  a  common  Elizabethan  corrup- 
tion of  '  God  yield,'  i.e.  '  God  reward.' 

16.  single  :  weak.    Contrasted  with  '  double  '  in  preceding  line. 


34  THE  NEW  HUDSON   SHAKESPEARE     ACT  I 

Your  majesty  loads  our  house :  for  those  of  old, 
And  the  late  dignities  heap'd  up  to  them, 
We  rest  your  hermits. 

DUNCAN.  Where  's  the  thane  of  Cawdor?      20 

We  cours'd  him  at  the  heels,  and  had  a  purpose 
To  be  his  purveyor :  but  he  rides  well, 
And  his  great  love,  sharp  as  his  spur,  hath  holp  him 
To  his  home  before  us.    Fair  and  noble  hostess, 
We  are  your  guest  to-night. 

LADY  MACBETH.  Your  servants  ever  25 

Have  theirs,  themselves,  and  what  is  theirs,  in  compt, 
To  make  their  audit  at  your  highness'  pleasure, 
Still  to  return  your  own. 

DUNCAN.  Give  me  your  hand ; 

Conduct  me  to  mine  host :  we  love  him  highly, 
And  shall  continue  our  graces  towards  him.  50 

By  your  leave,  hostess.  \_Exeunf\ 

20.  We  rest  your  hermits  :  we  remain  as  beadsmen  to  pray  for  you. 
"  The  lyrical  movement  with  which  this  scene  opens,  and  the  free 
and  unengaged  mind  of  Banquo,  loving  Nature,  and  rewarded  in  the 
love  itself,  form  a  highly  dramatic  contrast  with  the  laboured  rhythm 
and  hypocritical  over-much  of  Lady  Macbeth's  welcome,  in  which 
you  cannot  detect  a  ray  of  personal  feeling,  but  all  is  thrown  upon 
the  'dignities,'  the  general  duty."  —  Coleridge.  —  thane  of  Cawdor. 
"  How  gracious  the  mention  here  of  Macbeth's  new  title,  how 
poignant  the  irony  !  "  —  Verity. 

22.  purveyor :  forerunner.    Literally  '  one  sent  in  advance  to  pro- 
vide (Fr.  pourvoir]  food.'    The  word  is  here  accented  on  the  first  syl- 
lable.   Cf.  '  harbinger,'  I,  iv,  45. 

23.  holp.    The  old  preterite  of  '  help  '  used  as  a  past  participle. 
26.  in  compt :  subject  to  account,  reckoning.    So  in  Othello,*V,  ii, 

273  :  "  When  we  shall  meet  at  compt,"  i.e.  at  the  judgment-day. 

31.  By  your  leave.  "  Here  Duncan  gives  his  hand  to  Lady  Mac- 
beth and  leads  her  into  the  castle."  —  Clar. 


SCENE  vii  MACBETH  35 

SCENE  VII.    MACBETH'S  castle 

Hautboys  and  torches.  Enter  a  Sewer,  and  divers  Servants 
•with  dishes  and  service,  over  the  stage.  Then  enter 
MACBETH 

MACBETH.    If  it  were  done  when  't  is  done,  then  't  were 

well 

It  were  done  quickly  :  if  th'  assassination 
Could  trammel  up  the  consequence,  and  catch 
With  his  surcease  success ;  that  but  this  blow 

SCENE   VII  |  Scene   IX   Pope.—       boys  . . .  MACBETH  Ff. 
MACBETH'S  castle  \  Ff  omit.  —  Haul-  1-2.  well  It  |  well,  It  Ff. 

Sewer.  An  officer  in  a  noble  household  whose  duty  was  to  arrange 
the  dishes  on  the  table.  Cf .  "  sewers  and  seneschals  "  in  Paradise  Lost, 
IX,  38.  'Sewer'  is  not  connected  etymologically  with  Fr.  essay  fur, 
•a  taster,'  but  probably  with  Fr.  asseour,  'one  who  sets  the  table.' 

1-2.  The  punctuation  is  similar  to  that  of  the  Folios.  Some  edi- 
tors put  a  period,  or  colon,  at  the  end  of  line  i.  The  meaning  is,  If 
all  were  done  when  the  murder  is  done,  or  if  the  mere  doing  of  the 
deed  were  sure  to  finish  the  matter,  then  the  quicker  it  were  done 
the  better.  Macbeth  then  goes  on  to  amplify  and  intensify  the  same 
thought  in  other  language. 

2-4.  if  th'  assassination  .  .  .  success.  That  is,  If  the  assassination 
could  foreclose  or  shut  off  all  sequent  issues,  and  end  with  itself. 
'  His'  for  'its'  refers  undoubtedly  to  'assassination.'  So  'his'  is  com- 
monly used  in  Elizabethan  literature.  'To  trammel  up 'is  'to  entan- 
gle '  as  in  a  net.  So  Spenser  has  the  noun  in  The  Faerie  Queene,  III, 
ix,  20 :  "  Her  golden  locks,  that  were  in  tramells  gay  Upbounden." 
'  Surcease '  is  properly  a  legal  term,  meaning  the  arrest  or  stay  of  a 
suit.  So  in  Bacon's  essay  Of  Church  Controversies :  "  It  is  more  than 
time  that  there  were  an  end  and  surcease  made  of  this  immodest  and 
deformed  manner  of  writing,"  etc.  '  Success '  probably  has  the  sense 
of  'sequel,'  'succession,'  or  'succeeding  events.'  So  that  'to  catch 
success'  is  to  arrest  and  stop  off  all  further  outcome,  or  all  entaU  of 
danger. 


36          THE   NEW  HUDSON   SHAKESPEARE      ACT  i 

Might  be  the  be-all  and  the  end-all  here,  5 

But  here,  upon  this  bank  and  shoal  of  time, 

We  'd  jump  the  life  to  come.    But  in  these  cases 

We  still  have  judgment  here,  that  we  but  teach 

Bloody  instructions,  which,  being  taught,  return 

To  plague  th'  inventor  :  this  even-handed  justice  10 

Commends  th'  ingredients  of  our  poison'd  chalice 

To  our  own  lips.    He  's  here  in  double  trust : 

First,  as  I  am  his  kinsman  and  his  subject, 

Strong  both  against  the  deed ;  then,  as  his  host, 

Who  should  against  his  murderer  shut  the  door,  15 

Not  bear  the  knife  myself.    Besides,  this  Duncan 

Hath  borne  his  faculties  so  meek,  hath  been 

So  clear  in  his  great  office,  that  his  virtues 

Will  plead  like  angels,  trumpet- tongu'd,  against 

The  deep  damnation  of  his  taking-off ;  20 

And  pity,  like  a  naked  new-born  babe 

Striding  the  blast,  or  heaven's  cherubin  hors'd 

5.  be-all  Pope  |  be  all  Ff.  —  end-  6.  shoal  Theobald  |  Schoole  FiFa 
allhereHanmer|endall.  HeereFiF2.       I  School  FgF4  I  shelve  Warburton. 

6.  But:  only.  —  bank  and  shoal.   Theobald's  brilliant  emendation  is 
generally  accepted  by  modern  editors.    The  metaphor,  bringing  out 
the  contrast  between  the  shallows  of  time  and  the  abysses  of  eternity, 
is  thoroughly  Shakespearian.    For  a  defence  of  the  Folio  text,  see 
Furness,  Liddell,  and  Porter  and  Clarke's  '  First  Folio  '  Macbeth. 

7.  jump:  risk,  hazard.    Cf.  Cymbeline,  V,  iv,  188.    In  Antony  and 
Cleopatra,  III,  viii,  6,  'jump'  in  this  sense  is  a  noun. 

8.  still:  always.  —  that:  so  that.    So  in  line  25.    Cf.  I,  iii,  57. 

17.  faculties :  honors,  dignities,  prerogatives.  Cf.  Henry  VIII,  I, 
ii,  73.  "The  essential  idea  of  'faculty'  is  'power  of  doing'  (Lat. 
facere,  'to  do')  and  a  common  meaning  formerly  was  'power, 
liberty,  right  of  doing.'  "  —  Verity. 

22.  Cf.  Psalms,  xviii,  10:  "he  rode  upon  a  cherub  and  did  fly." 


SCENE  vii  MACBETH  37 

Upon  the  sightless  couriers  of  the  air, 

Shall  blow  the  horrid  deed  in  every  eye, 

That  tears  shall  drown  the  wind.    I  have  no  spur  25 

To  prick  the  sides  of  my  intent,  but  only 

Vaulting  ambition,  which  o'erleaps  itself 

And  falls  on  th'  other. 

Enter  LADY  MACBETH 

How  now  !  what  news? 

LADY  MACBETH.    He  has  almost  supp'd  :  why  have  you 
left  the  chamber?  29 

MACBETH.    Hath  he  ask'd  for  me? 

LADY  MACBETH.  Know  you  not  he  has? 

MACBETH.    We  will  proceed  no  further  in  this  business  : 
He  hath  honour'd  me  of  late ;  and  I  have  bought 
Golden  opinions  from  all  sorts  of  people, 
Which  would  be  worn  now  in  their  newest  gloss, 
Not  cast  aside  so  soon. 

LADY  MACBETH.  Was  the  hope  drunk  35 

Wherein  you  dress'd  yourself?  hath  it  slept  since? 

23.  couriers  Pope  [  Curriors  Ff.          Rowe  |  th'  other   side.    Hanmer.  — - 
28.  th1  other.    Ff  |  th'  other  —          Scene  X  Pope. 

23.  sightless  couriers  of  the  air.  Cf.  '  viewless  winds,'  Measure  for 
Measure,  III,  i,  124;  'posting  winds,'  Cymbeline,  III,  iv,  38. 

25.  tears  shall  drown  the  wind.  The  metaphor  is  common  in 
Shakespeare.  Cf.  Troilus  and  Cressida,  IV,  iv,  55,  and  Lucrece, 
1790.  —  I  have  no  spur,  etc.  As  Malone  pointed  out,  this  passage 
contains  two  distinct  metaphors.  Both  are  taken  from  horsemanship, 
and  they  follow  naturally  the  figure  in  lines  22-23. 

36.  Though  it  seems  natural  to  take  'dress'd'  as  carrying  on  the 
metaphor  in  line  34,  it  here  means  something  more.  'Dress'  and 
'address'  are  used  by  Elizabethan  writers  in  the  sense  of  'prepare' 


38          THE   NEW  HUDSON   SHAKESPEARE      ACT  i 

And  wakes  it  now,  to  look  so  green  and  pale 

At  what  it  did  so  freely?    From  this  time 

Such  I  account  thy  love.  Art  thou  afeard 

To  be  the  same  in  thine  own  act  and  valour  40 

As  thou  art  in  desire?   Wouldst  thou  have  that 

Which  thou  esteem'st  the  ornament  of  life, 

And  live  a  coward  in  thine  own  esteem, 

Letting  '  I  dare  not '  wait  upon  '  I  would,' 

Like  the  poor  cat  i'  the  adage  ? 

MACBETH.  Prithee,  peace :  45 

I  dare  do  all  that  may  become  a  man ; 
Who  dares  do  more  is  none. 

LADY  MACBETH.  What  beast  was  't,  then, 

That  made  you  break  this  enterprise  to  me  ? 
When  you  durst  do  it,  then  you  were  a  man ; 
And,  to  be  more  than  what  you  were,  you  would  50 

39.  love  Ff  |  liver  Bailey  conj. —  45.  adage  ?Capell  |  Addage.  FiFaFa. 
afeard  |  affear'd  FiF2Fs  I  afraid  Ft.  47.  do  Rowe  |  no  Ff. 

or  'make  ready.'  The  meaning  here  may  be,  Was  it  a  drunken  man's 
hope,  in  the  strength  of  which  you  made  yourself  ready  for  the 
killing  of  Duncan  ?  and  does  that  hope  now  wake  from  its  drunken 
sleep,  to  shudder  and  turn  pale  at  the  preparation  which  it  made  so 
freely  ?  In  accordance  with  this  explanation,  Lady  Macbeth's  next 
speech  shows  that  at  some  former  time  Macbeth  had  been,  or  had 
fancied  himself,  ready  to  make  an  opportunity  for  the  murder. 

42.  ornament  of  life.    The  '  golden  opinions  '  of  line  33. 

45.  The  proverb  is  a  common  one.  Probably  the  version  Shake- 
speare was  familiar  with  is  that  in  Heywood's  Three  Hundred  Epi- 
grammes,  1562  :  "  The  cat  would  eate  fyshe,  but  she  wyll  not  weate 
her  feete." 

47.  beast.  The  word  is  exceedingly  well  chosen  here  :  it  conveys 
a  stinging  allusion  to  what  Macbeth  has  just  said.  If  you  dare  do 
all  that  may  become  a  man,  then  what  beast  was  it  that  put  this 
enterprise  into  your  head  ? 


SCENE  vii  MACBETH  39 

Be  so  much  more  the  man.    Nor  time  nor  place 

Did  then  adhere,  and  yet  you  would  make  both : 

They  have  made  themselves,  and  that  their  fitness  now 

Does  unmake  you.    I  have  given  suck,  and  know 

How  tender  't  is  to  love  the  babe  that  milks  me ;  55 

I  would,  while  it  was  smiling  in  my  face, 

Have  pluck'd  my  nipple  from  his  boneless  gums, 

And  dash'd  the  brains  out,  had  I  so  sworn  as  you 

Have  done  to  this. 

MACBETH.  If  we  should  fail? 

LADY  MACBETH.  We  fail. 

But  screw  your  courage  to  the  sticking-place,  60 

And  we  '11  not  fail.    When  Duncan  is  asleep  — 
Whereto  the  rather  shall  his  day's  hard  journey 

58.  In  Ff  the  line  ends  with  sworn .        |  should  fail  ?  —  Rowe  |  fail,  —  Theo- 
—  so  Fi  |  but  so  F2F$F4.  bald.  — We  fail.   Capell  |  We  faile? 

59.  should  fail?  |  should  faile  ?  Ff       Ff  |  We  fail !  Rowe. 

52.  adhere :  agree,  consist  with  the  purpose.  This  passage  seems 
to  infer  that  the  murdering  of  Duncan  had  been  a  theme  of  conver- 
sation between  Macbeth  and  his  wife  long  before  the  weird  saluta- 
tion. He  was  then  for  making  a  time  and  place  for  the  deed;  now 
that  they  have  made  themselves  to  his  hand,  he  is  unmanned  by  them. 

59.  Probably  the  sense  of  this  much-disputed  passage  is  simply 
this :  If  we  should  fail,  why  then,  to  be  sure,  we  fail,  and  it  is  all 
over  with  us.    So  long  as  there  is  any  hope  or  prospect  of  success, 
Lady  Macbeth  is  for  going  ahead,  and  she  has  a  mind  to  risk  all  and 
lose  all,  rather  than  let  slip  any  chance  of  being  queen.    And  why 
should  she  not  be  as  ready  to  jump  the  present  life  in  such  a  cause 
as  her  husband  is  to  "  jump  the  life  to  come  "  ? 

60.  "A    metaphor    perhaps    taken    from    the  'screwing-up'  the 
chords  of  string-instruments  to  their  proper  degree  of  tension,  when 
the  peg  remains  fast   in   its  '  sticking-place.' "  —  Steevens.    "Lady 
Macbeth  is  thinking  of  the  cross-bow  rack  or  gaffle,  a  small  detach- 
able winch  to  draw  the  string  of  the  bow  to  its  'sticking-place,'  the 
action  of  which  would  naturally  be  connoted  by  '  screw.'  "  —  LiddelL 


40          THE   NEW  HUDSON   SHAKESPEARE      ACT  I 

Soundly  invite  him  —  his  two  chamberlains 

Will  I  with  wine  and  wassail  so  convince, 

That  memory,  the  warder  of  the  brain,  65 

Shall  be  a  fume,  and  the  receipt  of  reason 

A  limbeck  only  :  when  in  swinish  sleep 

Their  drenched  natures  lie  as  in  a  death, 

What  cannot  you  and  I  perform  upon 

Th'  unguarded  Duncan?  what  not  put  upon  70 

His  spongy  officers,  who  shall  bear  the  guilt 

Of  our  great  quell? 

MACBETH.  Bring  forth  men-children  only  ; 

For  thy  undaunted  mettle  should  compose 
Nothing  but  males.    Will  it  not  be  receiv'd, 
When  we  have  mark'd  with  blood  those  sleepy  two  75 

68.  lie  Pope  |  lyes  Fi  |  lye  FaFsF^. 

63-64.  "  He  got  him  into  his  priuie  chamber,  onelie  with  two  of 
his  chamberlains  .  .  .  till  they  had  charged  their  stomachs  with  such 
foul  gorges,  that  their  heads  were  no  sooner  got  to  the  pillow,  but 
asleepe  they  were  so  fast,  that  a  man  might  haue  remooued  the  cham- 
ber ouer  them,  sooner  than  to  haue  awaked  them  out  of  their  droonken 
sleepe."  —  Holinshed.  —  wassail:  carousing.  See  Skeat.  —  convince: 
overcome.  Cf.  IV,  iii,  142. 

65-67.  "  By  the  old  anatomists  the  brain  was  divided  into  three 
ventricles,  in  the  hindermost  of  which  they  placed  the  memory. 
That  this  division  was  not  unknown  to  Shakespeare  we  learn  from 
Love's  Labour  's  Lost,  IV,  ii,  70.  .  .  .  When  the  memory  is  converted 
by  intoxication  into  a  mere  fume  (cf.  The  Tempest,  V,  i,  67),  then  it  fills 
the  brain  itself,  the  receipt  or  receptacle  of  reason,  which  thus  becomes 
like  the  alembic  or  cap  of  a  still."  —  Clar.  —  limbeck:  alembic. 

71.  spongy:   drunken.    Cf.  The  Aferchant  of  Venice,  I,  ii,  107  :  "I 
will  do  any  thing,  Nerissa,  ere  I  '11  be  married  to  a  sponge." 

72.  quell :  slaying,  slaughter.    Cf. '  manqueller,'  i.e.  '  murderer,'  in 
2  Henry  IV,  II,  i,  58.    From  the  same  root  as  'kill'  (Anglo-Saxon 
cwgllan). 


SCENE  vii  MACBETH  4! 

Of  his  own  chamber  and  us'd  their  very  daggers, 
That  they  have  done  't  ? 

LADY  MACBETH.  Who  dares  receive  it  other, 

As  we  shall  make  our  griefs  and  clamour  roar 
Upon  his  death? 

MACBETH.          I  am  settled,  and  bend  up 
Each  corporal  agent  to  this  terrible  feat.  80 

Away,  and  mock  the  time  with  fairest  show ; 
False  face  must  hide  what  the  false  heart  doth  know. 

\Exeunf\ 

77.  other  :  otherwise.    So  in  V,  iv,  8 ;  King  John,  V,  ii,  58. 

79.  bend  up.  Cf.  'bend  up  every  spirit,'  in  Henry  V,  III,  i,  16. 
The  figure  is  from  stringing  a  bow,  and  this  strengthens  Professor 
Liddell's  interpretation  of  line  60. 


ACT  II 
SCENE  I.  Inverness.   Court  of  MACBETH'S  castle 

Enter  BANQUO,  and  FLEANCE  with  a  torch  before  him 

BANQUO.    How  goes  the  night,  boy? 

FLEANCE.    The  moon  is  down  ;  I  have  not  heard  the  clock. 

BANQUO.   And  she  goes  down  at  twelve. 

FLEANCE.  I  take  't,  't  is  later,  sir. 

BANQUO.    Hold,  take  my  sword.    There 's  husbandry  in 

heaven ; 

Their  candles  are  all  out.    Take  thee  that  too.  5 

A  heavy  summons  lies  like  lead  upon  me, 
And  yet  I  would  not  sleep.    Merciful  powers, 
Restrain  in  me  the  cursed  thoughts  that  nature 
Gives  way  to  in  repose  ! 

Inverness  .  .  .  castle    Dyce  |  Ff  7-10.  In  the  Ff  lines  end  sleep, 

omit.  thoughts,  repose,  there. 

4.  Two  lines  in  Ff. 

4.  husbandry:    economy.    If  'heaven'  be   taken  as  a  collective 
noun,  the  grammatical  construction  of  '  their '  in  the  next  line  will 
be  normal. 

5.  candles.   Cf.  The  Merchant  of  Venice,  V, :,  220  ;  Romeo  and  Juliet, 
III,v,  9.  —  thee.    See  Abbott,  §  212. — that.    He  hands  Fleance  some- 
thing, a  helmet,  a  shield,  or  a  dagger. 

7-9.  From  line  20  we  learn  that  Banquo  has  been  dreaming  of 
the  weird  sisters.  He  understands  how  their  greeting  may  act  as  an 
incentive  to  crime,  and  shrinks  with  horror  from  the  poison  of  such 
evil  suggestions,  and  seeks  refuge  in  prayer  from  the  invasion  of 

42 


SCENE  I  MACBETH  43 

Enter  MACBETH,  and  a  Servant  with  a  torch 

Give  me  my  sword. 
Who's  there?  10 

MACBETH.   A  friend. 

BANQUO.   What,  sir,  not  yet  at  rest  ?   The  king 's  a-bed  : 
He  hath  been  in  unusual  pleasure,  and 
Sent  forth  great  largess  to  your  offices  : 
This  diamond  he  greets  your  wife  withal,  15 

By  the  name  of  most  kind  hostess ;  and  shut  up 
In  measureless  content. 

MACBETH.  Being  unprepar'd, 

Our  will  became  the  servant  to  defect ; 
Which  else  should  free  have  wrought. 

13.  In   Ff  the  line  ends  with  16.  By  ...  hostess  |  separate  line 
pleasure.                                                   in  Ff. 

guilty  thoughts  even  in  his  sleep.  His  character  stands  in  marked 
contrast  to  that  of  Macbeth,  whose  mind  is  inviting  wicked  thoughts, 
and  catching  eagerly  at  temptation,  and  revolving  how  he  may  work 
the  guilty  suggestions  through  into  act. 

14.  "Comming  foorth,  he  called  such  afore  him  as  had  faithfullie 
serued  him  in  pursute  and  apprehension  of  the  rebels,  and  giuing 
them  heartie  thanks,  he  bestowed  sundrie  honourable  gifts  amongst 
them,  of  the  which  number  Donwald  was  one,  as  he  that  had  been 
euer  accounted  a  most  faithful  seruant  to  the  king."  —  Holinshed. 
—  offices :  the  apartments  of  those  in  charge  of  the  various  branches 
of  household  work.     '  Officers '  has  been  suggested  as  an  emen- 
dation, but  no  change  is  needed. 

16.  shut  up.  A  difficult  expression.  It  may  mean  '  composed  him- 
self to  rest ' ;  or  here  may  be  a  participle  in  an  elliptical  construc- 
tion, and  the  whole  passage  will  mean,  He  is  wrapped  in  a  sense  of 
boundless  satisfaction. 

18.  A  man  may  be  said  to  be  the  servant  of  that  which  he  cannot 
help :  and  Macbeth  means  that  his  will  would  have  made  amplei 
preparation,  but  that  it  was  fettered  by  want  of  time. 


44          THE   NEW  HUDSON   SHAKESPEARE     ACT  II 

BANQUO.  All 's  well. 

I  dreamt  last  night  of  the  three  weird  sisters :  20 

To  you  they  have  show'd  some  truth. 

MACBETH.  I  think  not  of  them  ; 

Yet,  when  we  can  entreat  an  hour  to  serve, 
We  would  spend  it  in  some  words  upon  that  business, 
If  you  would  grant  the  time. 

BANQUO.  At  your  kind'st  leisure. 

MACBETH.  If  you  shall  cleave  to  my  consent,  when  't  is, 
It  shall  make  honour  for  you. 

BANQUO.  So  I  lose  none  26 

In  seeking  to  augment  it,  but  still  keep 
My  bosom  franchis'd,  and  allegiance  clear, 
I  shall  be  counsell'd. 

MACBETH.  Good  repose  the  while  ! 

BANQUO.    Thanks,  sir  :  the  like  to  you  !  30 

\_Exeunt  BANQUO  and  FLEANCE] 

MACBETH.    Go  bid  thy  mistress,  when  my  drink  is  ready, 
She  strike  upon  the  bell.    Get  thee  to  bed.    [Exit  Servant] 
Is  this  a  dagger  which  I  see  before  me, 
The  handle  toward  my  hand?    Come,  let  me  clutch  thee. 
I  have  thee  not,  and  yet  I  see  thee  still.  35 

Art  thou  not,  fatal  vision,  sensible 

24.  kind'st  Fi  ]  kindst  Fa  I  kind  y>.\Exeunt    BANQUO     and 

FaF4.  FLEANCE]  Exit  Banquo  Ff. 

25-26.  when  'tis  .   .   .  you  |  one  31.  Scene  II  Pope. 

line  in  Ff.  33.  [Exit  Servant]  Exit  Ff. 

25-26.  If  you  will  join  my  party  (i.e.  what  has  my  consent),  when 
the  time  comes  (or,  when  the  result  is  gained),  it  shall  make  honor 
for  you.  '  Consort,'  '  contest,'  '  ascent,'  '  concept,'  have  all  been  sug- 
gested as  emendations  of  the  obscure  'consent '  of  the  Folio  text. 

36.  sensible:  "  perceptible  through  the  bodily  organs."  —  Century. 
'Capable  of  being  perceived  through  the  senses."^-  Clar. 


SCENE  I  MACBETH  45 

To  feeling  as  to  sight?  or  art  thou  but 

A  dagger  of  the  mind,  a  false  creation, 

Proceeding  from  the  heat-oppressed  brain  ? 

I  see  thee  yet,  in  form  as  palpable  40 

As  this  which  now  I  draw. 

Thou  marshall'st  me  the  way  that  I  was  going ; 

And  such  an  instrument  I  was  to  use. 

Mine  eyes  are  made  the  fools  o'  the  other  senses, 

Or  else  worth  all  the  rest :  I  see  thee  still ;  45 

And  on  thy  blade  and  dudgeon  gouts  of  blood, 

Which  was  not  so  before.   There 's  no  such  thing  : 

It  is  the  bloody  business  which  informs 

Thus  to  mine  eyes.    Now  o'er  the  one  half-world 

Nature  seems  dead,  and  wicked  dreams  abuse  50 

The  curtain'd  sleep ;  witchcraft  celebrates 

Pale  Hecate's  offerings;  and  wither'd  murder, 

44-45.  'Senses'  is  here  used  with  a  double  reference,  (i)  to  the 
bodilj  organs  of  sense,  and  (2)  to  the  inward  faculties  of  the  mind. 
Either  his  eyes  are  deceived  by  his  imaginative  forces  in  being  made 
to  see  that  which  is  not,  or  else  his  other  senses  are  at  fault  in  not 
being  able  to  find  the  reality  which  his  eyes  behold. 

46.  dudgeon :  haft,  hilt.  The  name  of  a  kind  of  wood  (probably 
boxwood)  used  by  turners  for  the  handles  of  knives,  daggers,  etc. 
Then,  by  metonymy,  the  handle  or  the  dagger  itself.  —  gouts  :  large 
drops.  Fr.  goutte  ;  Lat.  gutta. 

51.  "  The  loss  of  an  unstressed  syllable  after  a  caesural  pause  is 
of  common  occurrence  in  English  verse."  —  Liddell.  But  may  not 
'witchcraft'  be  trisyllabic  here,  ' witchc(e)raft,'  in  accordance  with 
the  rule  that  'r'  and  liquids  in  dissyllables  are  frequently  pronounced 
as  though  an  extra  vowel  were  introduced  between  them  and  the 
preceding  consonant.  See  Abbott,  §  477. 

51-52.  celebrates  Pale  Hecate's  offerings.  That  is,  Makes  offer- 
ings or  sacrifices  to  Hecate,  who  was  the  queen  of  Hades,  the 
patroness  of  all  infernal  arts,  and  of  course  the  mistress  of  all  who 


46         THE   NEW  HUDSON   SHAKESPEARE    ACT  n 

Alarum'd  by  his  sentinel,  the  wolf, 

Whose  howl 's  his  watch,  thus  with  his  stealthy  pace, 

With  Tarquin's  ravishing  strides,  towards  his  design  55 

Moves  like  a  ghost.   Thou  sure  and  firm-set  earth, 

Hear  not  my  steps,  which  way  they  walk,  for  fear 

Thy  very  stones  prate  of  my  whereabout, 

And  take  the  present  horror  from  the  time, 

Which  now  suits  with  it.   Whiles  I  threat,  he  lives  :  60 

Words  to  the  heat  of  deeds  too  cold  breath  gives. 

[A  bell  rings'] 

I  go,  and  it  is  done ;  the  bell  invites  me. 
Hear  it  not  Duncan  ;  for  it  is  a  knell 
That  summons  thee  to  heaven  or  to  hell.  [Exit] 

55.  strides  Pope  ]  sides  Ff.  sowr  Fa  |  sour  F4. 

56.  sure  Capell  |  sowre  FiFa  |  57.  way  they  Rowe  |  they  may  Ff. 

practised  them;  here  called  'pale,'  because,  under  the  name  of 
Diana,  she  was  identified  with  the  moon.  Cf.  Childe  Harold,  II,  22  : 
"  beneath  pale  Hecat's  blaze."  The  name  is,  properly,  trisyllabic, 
but  Shakespeare  always  has  it  dissyllabic,  except  in  /  Henry  VI, 
III,  ii,  64. 

54.  'Watch'  is  here  used  probably  for  'signal.'    The  figure  is  of 
the  wolf  acting  as  the  sentinel  of  murder,  and  his  howl  being  the 
signal  to  give  warning  of  approaching  danger. 

55.  Steevens  points  out  that  'strides'  (Pope's   emendation  for 
'  sides '  in  the  Folio  text)  did  not  necessarily  carry  the  idea  of  vio- 
lence or  noise,  but  was  used  by  Elizabethan  writers  in  a  sense  coher- 
ent enough  with  '  stealthy  pace  ' : 

They  passing  forth  kept  on  their  readie  way, 
With  easie  steps  so  soft  as  foot  could  stryde. 

The  Faerie  Queene,  IV,  viii,  37. 
58.   Cf.  Luke,  xix,  40. 

5<H>o.  "Macbeth  would  have  nothing  break  through  the  universal 
silence  that  added  such  horror  to  the  night,  as  suited  well  with  the 
bloody  deed  he  was  about  to  perform." —  Steevens. 


SCENE  H  MACBETH  47 

SCENE  II.   The  same 

Enter  LADY  MACBETH 

LADY  MACBETH.   That  which  hath  made  them  drunk  hath 

made  me  bold ; 

What  hath  quench'd  them  hath  given  me  fire.  Hark  !  Peace  ! 
It  was  the  owl  that  shriek'd,  the  fatal  bellman, 
Which  gives  the  stern'st  good-night.    He  is  about  it : 
The  doors  are  open  ;  and  the  surfeited  grooms  5 

Do  mock  their  charge  with  snores  :    I  have  drugg'd  their 
possets, 

SCENE II  |  Scene  III  Pope  |  Rowe  shriek'd,  good-night,  open,  charge, 
continues  scene.  possets. 

2-6.  In    Ff  the    lines   end    flre, 

1-2.  Lady  Macbeth  has  fired  her  courage  by  drinking  wine ;  but, 
while  she  is  kindled  by  drink,  the  grooms  are  stupefied,  "  their 
possets  "  having  been  drugged. 

3.  Shakespeare  has  more  than  one  allusion  to  the  supposed  omi- 
nousness  of  the  owl's  note.  Cf.  /  Henry  VI,  IV,  ii,  15  ;  Richard  III, 
IV, Iv,  509;  Lucrece,i6$.  Cf.  "fatal  fowle  !  As  ravens, schrich-owles." 
—  Webster's  The  Duchess  of  Malfi,  IV,  ii,  63-64.  "  For  one  will  saie ; 
I  had  a  dreame  to-night,  or  a  crowe  croked  upon  my  house,  or  an 
owle  flew  by  me  and  screeched  (which  augurie  Lucius  Silla  tooke  of 
his  death)."  —  Scot.  —  the  fatal  bellman.  So  in  The  Duchess  of 

Malfi,  IV,  ii,  179-181 : 

I  am  the  common  bellman, 

That  usually  is  sent  to  condemn'd  persons 
The  night  before  they  suffer. 

Lady  Macbeth  of  course  regards  Duncan  as  the  condemned  person 
to  whom  the  '  fatal  bellman  '  gives  '  the  stern'st  good-night.' 

6.  "  Posset  is  hot  milk  poured  on  ale  or  sack,  having  sugar,  grated 
bisket,  and  eggs,  with  other  ingredients  boiled  in  it,  which  all  goes 
to  a  curd." — Academy  of  Armourie  (1688).  "  Get  me  three  hundred 
milch  bats,  to  make  possets  to  procure  sleepe."  —  The  Duchess  ct 
Malfi,  IV,  ii,  1 1 6. 


48         THE  NEW  HUDSON   SHAKESPEARE    ACT  11 

That  death  and  nature  do  contend  about  them, 
Whether  they  live  or  die. 

Enter  MACBETH 

MACBETH.  Who's  there?  what,  ho  ! 

LADY  MACBETH.    Alack,  I  am  afraid  they  have  awak'd, 
And  't  is  not  done.   Th'  attempt  and  not  the  deed  10 

Confounds  us.    Hark  !    I  laid  their  daggers  ready  ; 
He  could  not  miss  'em.    Had  he  not  resembled 
My  father  as  he  slept,  I  had  done  't.    My  husband  ! 

MACBETH.    I  have  done  the  deed.    Didst  thou  not  hear 
a  noise? 

LADY  MACBETH.    I  heard  the  owl  scream  and  the  crickets 
cry.  15 

Did  not  you  speak? 

8.  Enter  MACBETH  Ff  1  in  Globe  13.  My  husband  |  separate  line  in  Ff. 
Camb  after  done  't,  line  13.  14.  Two  lines  in  Ff. 

7.  That :  so  that.    So  in  line  23.    Cf.  I,  ii,  58  ;  I,  vii,  8. 

8.  Enter  MACBETH.    The  Folio  stage  direction.    "  It  may  be  that 
on  the  Elizabethan  stage  Macbeth  entered  here,  not  to  the  stage 
proper,  but  to  the  balcony  above."  —  Manly. 

lO-ii.  The  attempt  without  the  deed  destroys  or  ruins  us. 

12—13.  This  little  touch  of  nature  is  one  of  Shakespeare's  most 
pregnant  hints  of  character,  and  of  itself  should  be  enough  to  upset 
the  more  common  notion  of  Lady  Macbeth.  It  tells  us  that,  notwith- 
standing her  appalling  invocation  to  the  "  murdering  ministers,"  her 
milk  continues  to  be  milk.  And  what  a  suggestive  contrast  it  makes 
to  the  terrible  audacity  of  thought  and  speech  she  has  just  displayed  ! 
It  is  the  tenderness  of  her  woman's  heart  that  causes  her  to  see  in 
the  sleeping  king  an  image  of  her  father. 

15.  Webster  imitated  this  in  The  White  Devil,  V,  iv,  91-94 : 

When  scritch-howles  croke  upon  the  chimney  tops, 

And  the  strange  cricket  i'  th'  oven  singes  and  hoppes  .  .  . 

Be  certaine  then  you  of  a  corse  shall  heare. 


SCENE  II  MACBETH  49 

MACBETH.  When? 

LADY  MACBETH.  Now. 

MACBETH.  As  I  descended? 

LADY  MACBETH.    Ay. 

MACBETH.    Hark ! 
Who  lies  i'  the  second  chamber? 

LADY  MACBETH.  Donalbain.  19 

MACBETH.   This  is  a  sorry  sight.     [Looking  on  his  hands] 

LADY  MACBETH.   A  foolish  thought,  to  say  a  sorry  sight. 

MACBETH.   There  's  one  did  laugh  in  's  sleep,  and  one 

cried  '  Murder  ! ' 

That  they  did  wake  each  other  :  I  stood  and  heard  them  : 
But  they  did  say  their  prayers,  and  address'd  them 
Again  to  sleep. 

LADY  MACBETH.   There  are  two  lodg'd  together.  25 

MACBETH.   One  cried  'God  bless  us  !'  and  'Amen'  the 

other, 

As  they  had  seen  me  with  these  hangman's  hands : 
Listening  their  fear,  I  could  not  say  'Amen,' 
When  they  did  say  '  God  bless  us  ! ' 

LADY  MACBETH.    Consider  it  not  so  deeply.  30 

MACBETH.    But  wherefore  could  not  I  pronounce  '  Amen '  ? 
I  had  most  need  of  blessing,  and  'Amen' 
Stuck  in  my  throat. 

18-19.  Hark!  .  .  .  chamber?  |  22-25.  Lines  in  Ff  end  sleep,  other, 

one  line  in  Ff.  prayers,  sleep. 

20.  [Looking  .  .  .  |  Ff  omit.  32-33-  I  had .  . .  throat  |  one  line  in  Ff. 

24.  address'd:  prepared.    Cf.  The  Merchant  of  Venice,  II,  ix,  19. 

27.  As:  as  if.    See  Abbott,  §  107.  —  hangman's:  executioner's. 

28.  The  Folio  punctuation.    In  previous   editions  of    Hudson's 
Shakespeare  a  comma  closed  the  preceding  line  and  a  colon  was  put 
after  '  fear,'  so  that  '  listening  '  modified  '  me  '  and  not  '  I.' 


50          THE   NEW  HUDSON   SHAKESPEARE    ACT  n 

LADY  MACBETH.          These  deeds  must  not  be  thought 
After  these  ways  :  so,  it  will  make  us  mad.  34 

MACBETH.    Methought  I  heard  a  voice  cry '  Sleep  no  more  ! 
Macbeth  does  murder  sleep,'  —  the  innocent  sleep, 
Sleep  that  knits  up  the  ravell'd  sleave  of  care, 
The  death  of  each  day's  life,  sore  labour's  bath, 
Balm  of  hurt  minds,  great  nature's  second  course, 
Chief  nourisher  in  life's  feast,  — 

LADY  MACBETH.  What  do  you  mean?     40 

MACBETH.   Still  it  cried  '  Sleep  no  more  ! '  to  all  the  house : 
'  Glamis  hath  murder'd  sleep,  and  therefore  Cawdor 
Shall  sleep  no  more ;  Macbeth  shall  sleep  no  more  ! ' 

LADY  MACBETH.   Who   was   it   that   thus   cried?     Why, 

worthy  thane, 

You  do  unbend  your  noble  strength,  to  think  45 

So  brainsickly  of  things.  Go  get  some  water, 
And  wash  this  filthy  witness  from  your  hand. 
Why  did  you  bring  these  daggers  from  the  place? 

35-36.  'Sleep  .  .  .  sleep*  1  marked  41.  'Sleep  .  .  .  more'  |  marked  as 

as  quotation  by  Johnson.  quotation  by  Hanmer. 

37.  sleave  Steevens  |  sleeve  Ff.  42-43-  '  Glamis    .    .    .    more  !  '   | 

marked  as  quotation  by  Hanmer. 

35.  "  A  voice  was  heard  as  he  was  in  bed  in  the  night  time  to  take 
his  rest  vttering  unto  him  these  or  the  like  woordes  .  .  .  The  king 
with  this  voice  being  striken  into  great  dread  and  terror,  passed 
that  night  without  anie  sleepe  comming  in  his  eies." — Holinshed. 
The  Folio  printing  does  not  indicate  where  the  words  of  the  '  voice ' 
end.  Hanmer  extended  the  quotation  as  far  as  '  life's  feast.' 

37.  ravell'd  sleave :  tangled  skein  of  floss-silk.  Cf.  Troilus  and 
Crcssida,  V,  i,  35  :  "  thou  idle  immaterial  skein  of  sleave-silk." 

39-40.  In  the  second  course  at  Elizabethan  feasts  were  served  the 
most  nourishing  dishes. 

45-46.  to  think  So  brainsickly  :  in  thinking  so  crazily.  The  gerun- 
dive use  of  the  infinitive.  See  Abbott,  §  356. 


SCENE  II  MACBETH  51 

They  must  lie  there :  go  carry  them,  and  smear 
The  sleepy  grooms  with  blood. 

MACBETH.  I  '11  go  no  more :  50 

I  am  afraid  to  think  what  I  have  done ; 
Look  on  't  again  I  dare  not. 

LADY  MACBETH.  Infirm  of  purpose  ! 

Give  me  the  daggers :  the  sleeping  and  the  dead 
Are  but  as  pictures ;  't  is  the  eye  of  childhood 
That  fears  a  painted  devil.    If  he  do  bleed,  55 

1  '11  gild  the  faces  of  the  grooms  withal ; 

For  it  must  seem  their  guilt.         [Exit.   Knocking  within] 

MACBETH.  Whence  is  that  knocking? 

How  is 't  with  me,  when  every  noise  appals  me  ? 
What  hands  are  here?  ha  !  they  pluck  out  mine  eyes  ! 
Will  all  great  Neptune's  ocean  wash  this  blood  60 

57.  [Knocking  .  .  .  |  Knocke  .  .  .  Ff. 

52-55.  With  her  firm  self-control,  this  bold  woman,  when  awake 
was  to  be  moved  by  nothing  but  facts :  when  her  powers  of  self- 
control  were  unknit  by  sleep,  then  was  the  time  for  her  to  see  things 
that  were  not,  save  in  her  own  conscience. 

56-  gild.  '  Red '  is  a  common  epithet  for  '  gold '  in  early  English 
literature,  and  'golden  blood'  occurs  in  II,  iii,  100.  Cf.  King  John, 
II,  i,  316.  "'Gild  with  blood  'was  an  expression  not  uncommon  in 
the  sixteenth  century."  —  Nares.  —  withal.  See  note,  I,  iii,  57. 

57.  guilt.    The  same  quibble,  also  with  tragic  setting,  occurs  in 

2  Henry  IV,  IV,  v,  129-130 ;  and  Henry  V,  Prol.  II,  26.    It  is  famous 
in  English  literature  from  Marlowe  to  Hood. — Knocking  within.    For 
the  tragic  significance  of  this,  see  De  Quincey,  "  On  the  Knocking  at 
the  Gate  in  Macbeth."   It  is  dramatically  effective  that  one  of  the  mer* 
whose  knocking  startles  the  guilty  pair  is  the  destined  instrument  of 
vengeance.    "The  knocking  here  seems  to  show  that  the  opening  of 
the  next  scene  always  formed  part  of  the  play."  —  E.  K.  Chambers. 

6o-<5i.  For  parallel  passages  in  Sophocles,  Catullus,  Lucretius, 
and  Seneca,  see  Furness. 


THE   NEW  HWTS3ffl9/-3HAKESPEAREn 


Clean  from  ioydKi6xi£  ,M-sr;Jtshissinp^iai«bTHlbiiatheaR  vadT 
The  multitudinous  seas  incarniaidiiufe/iJiw  amooig  v 
leaking  the  graanaone<jdd.I 

D  :  3uob,3V£.      Jsiw    a 
Re-enter  EADY  MACBETH 

Jon  3i£D  I  flings  l  no  xooJ 
LADYMAC^T 

i 

WJbb 
To  wear  a 


bae 


are  of 

a  aril   : 


sdl  am 


the  south  entry  :  :^fe^en^  ou5tfilw^efei  ^  f),i?  ,{, 


Hathleft 


!M'  Ji/o  jiDwfq  varil  !  sri  'saiod  3is  zba&d  i&d'f 
Get  on  your  rjjgh^p^  ySSSV^S^  Jwi8  JU  ii7 
And  show  us  to  be  watchers.    Be  not  lost 
So  poorly  in  your^lhougnW/* 


--an  nsaw  :  en«  Jwd 


saoJ  isa  iqldfljJJ  a.-ijf  ajsw.nsl  ,0931'?  fJi/vnu  aiavz  o|ip73 
uncan  with  thy  knocking  !    I  would  thou  couldst 

J  .aonsiDanoi  nwo  la/J  m  svia  ,;on  5^5*  r.s,t? 


n65i.,i^73c,^r^^^'^/*]oau   !3f?Bfi^%|j«l?  iftflj-  Jiiuj    .79 

nocke  JFf.,     •  74.  Two  lines  in  EL  .., 

aom&i  ai  Jl    ,os  ,11  ..ji  1  ,'  itx«^\  bra?;o£i-$£i  ,v  ,  VI  ,4\  •<_•<«  M\  5. 


68*691  : 


C9BstaacjP  Hath 


6rnthe8$;<'wWcivr 


e\  5  Usaal  sartefenth  century^*n»a«ingu 

73.   W  1«  1  e  thinking  of  what  I-  have  done,  it  were  1  «s  t  1  sliau  Id  he 
lost  to  myself,  or  should  not  know  myself  aa*hrw  d3epo<  i 


3HT 


e'livsb  isrfto  tml  ni  ,3i3rij  e'  ori'//    !  jl 

l£B 

jiai 
,  >i*e 


.-iWhoo'siJjbgrps:  i 
's/airfarnauivi6h^f 
;e*pec,taJtienioDplentyi 


;  ^jon     .'ji-jon'A      .i\\'Vj^-.\7v      .3?o;.>3  luoy    Jg£ot  vurn   JJOY 

.  ,  SCENE  III  |  Scene  rv  Warburtont  3,  6,  &c..  [Knocking]  Knock  Ft 

'' 


nul  on  ji  loJioq-Iivoh  fi'  I    .Hod  10) 

YftScKCKiHlIt[  THils.ttj^e'fartiQua  ":P<«tet13  scenb/'  Jias  bean  fegarded 
by  some  critics,  including  Coleridge,  as  unauthentic.    But  it  is  thor- 

uuglily  Shakespearian  ja  conception  and  execution,  hi  broad 
4rQllftrys*WtV«83a9i  Ai  prOpferoiioU.to,  the  antecedeiU  horn  >rs  ;  IkhA'eiff 
discdrdance  with  tlie  surrounding  nutter  imparts  ;m  air  of  verisinuli' 
tude  to  the  \vhole.  "  Looking  at  tlie  scene  as  u  practical  dramatist, 
I  see  that  it  is  absolutely  necessary  to  ^et  Macbeth  -otf  the  stage.  A 
motive  mast  be  contrived  fur  this.  That  motive  is  at  once  Supplied 
by.'tbftSiiddBn!ka0cking;;'!-rVTQ«j:Taylr6B3£ja  s.-iJ  z£  \lzuoubi,  SM  KB 
2.  old  :  plentt  of.  Aifre^irervt  'mten«iv«,x>raugja«ntatiV*.  in  collo- 
qiiial  •  KHrabetlian  speuchv,  aud  st  ill  heard  in  nuxlvru  ulang.  Cf  .  7/4<f 
Merchant  ofVfiijis^  ftV*  ii,  A^;  wt  WJe>8hal^  hay^iold  sWeajrit^-IVgned 

4.  Beelzebub.    Perhaps  ;theJFolia  brisyllafcic  speHii%xhrt^d  be  re- 
tainediin.  the  text  as  representing  the  popular  pronuociatkwt.  rThe 
Porter  pi  oceeds  to  hold  a  dialogne  \vith  st'veral  imapnau'  persons.  sit 
'iheB-gate  '  wixOTajre'si^peee'ditabekDoekingior  admission.  Too  much, 
perhaps,  has  been  made  of  supposed  'topical  allusions'  in  this'dialogue 
fordetermiaing;  thedateof  con\po»itionof  thephy.   See  Intnrnkiction. 

4-5.  That  a  fanner  who  hoarded  grain  apainst  a  'lean'  vei/  should 
hanyjiiansBlfs'whfeaiijai/year!  of  -  plentyi  came  serinra^to.ihaawifeqe/ada 
current  EliiabetfcaiE^asti'  !  >Wa4\ia»drBen'Jon8ori'  both1  make  use  ot  it. 

5.  Come  in  time  3  an  $ailyrJnTreairf4-atapkin&;  hi  JB^t«tfe  Ah-farii 
•tehntjeril1  a  napkin,  at  handkerchief  e,  -wherewith  *8e  wipe  away'  tH« 
sweate."    In  finidale.VN*^  Testament  'napkin'is  Used  to  translate 

,  smfaridnt.'    ".tbjesi.*  t 


54          THE   NEW  HUDSON   SHAKESPEARE    ACT  u 

enough  about  you ;  here  you  '11  sweat  for  't.  [Knocking^ 
Knock,  knock!  Who's  there,  in  the  other  devil's  name? 
Faith,  here  's  an  equivocator  that  could  swear  in  both  the 
scales  against  either  scale ;  who  committed  treason  enough 
for  God's  sake,  yet  could  not  equivocate  to  heaven.  O, 
come  in,  equivocator.  \_Knocking\  Knock,  knock,  knock  ! 
Who's  there?  Faith,  here's  an  English  tailor  come  hither 
for  stealing  out  of  a  French  hose.  Come  in,  tailor;  here 
you  may  roast  your  goose.  \_Knocking\  Knock,  knock; 
never  at  quiet !  What  are  you  ?  But  this  place  is  too  cold 
for  hell.  I  '11  devil-porter  it  no  further  :  I  had  thought  to 
have  let  in  some  of  all  professions,  that  go  the  primrose  way 

8.  Some  editors,  following  Malone,  find  here  a  reference  to 
the  trial  of  Henry  Garnet  in  March,  1606,  in  connection  with  the 
Gunpowder  Plot.  At  this  trial  the  doctrine  of  'equivocation'  was 
much  discussed,  but  '  equivocation '  was  "  at  all  times  so  favourite  a 
theme  of  invective  with  Protestant  preachers  that  it  could  not  but 
be  familiar  to  the  public,  who  in  those  days  frequented  the  pulpit 
as  assiduously  as  the  stage." — Clar.  Verity  notes  that  "the  alias 
under  which  Garnet  often  passed  was  '  Mr.  Farmer '  ...  so  that  the 
transition  (for  the  two  must  not  be  identified)  from  '  the  farmer  that 
hang'd  himself  to  the  'equivocator  '  was  a  sort  of  jest." 

10.  equivocate  to  heaven :  win  heaven  by  equivocating. 

13.  hose:  trousers.    "The  joke  consists  in  this,  that,  a  French 
hose  being  very  short  and  strait,  a  tailor  must  be  master  of  his  trade 
who  could  steal  any  thing  from  thence."  —  Warburton.     Another 
view  is  that  the  allusion  is  to  a  French  fashion,  which  made  the 
hose  very  large  and  wide,  and  so  with  more  cloth  to  be  stolen. 

14.  A  tailor's  'goose'  is  the  heavy  flatiron  with  which  he  smooths 
and  presses  his  work,  so  called  because  the  handle  bore  some  resem- 
blance to  the  neck  of  a  goose.    The  quibble  is  an  ancient  one. 

17-18.  the  primrose  way  to  the  everlasting  bonfire.  Cf.  All's  Well 
that  Ends  Well,  IV,  v,  56  :  "  They  '11  be  for  the  flowery  way  that  leads 
to  the  broad  gate  and  the  great  fire  ";  Hamlet,  I,  iii,  50  :  "  Himself 
the  primrose  path  of  dalliance  treads."  "A  bonfire  at  that  date  is 


SCENE  in  MACBETH  55 

to  the   everlasting  bonfire.    [Knocking]    Anon,  anon  !    I 
pray  you,  remember  the  porter.  [Opens  the  gate~\ 

Enter  MACDUFF  and  LENNOX 

MACDUFF.  Was  it  so  late,  friend,  ere  you  went  to  bed,  20 
That  you  do  lie  so  late? 

PORTER.    Faith,  sir,  we  were  carousing  till  the  second  cock. 

MACDUFF.    I  believe  drink  gave  thee  the  lie  last  night. 

PORTER.  That  it  did,  sir,  i'  the  very  throat  on  me  :  but  I 
requited  him  for  his  lie  ;  and,  I  think,  being  too  strong  for 
him,  though  he  took  up  my  legs  sometime,  yet  I  made  a 
shift  to  cast  him.  27 

Enter  MACBETH 

MACDUFF.    Is  thy  master  stirring? 
Our  knocking  has  awak'd  him;  here  he  comes. 
LENNOX.    Good  morrow,  noble  sir. 
MACBETH.  Good  morrow,  both. 

MACDUFF.    Is  the  king  stirring,  worthy  thane? 
MACBETH.  Not  yet. 

19.  \0pens  .  .  .  |  Ff  omit.  28.  Scene  IV  Pope. 

invariably  given  in  Latin  Dictionaries  as  equivalent  to  pyra  or 
rog us ;  it  was  the  fire  for  consuming  the  human  body  after  death  : 
and  the  hell-fire  differed  from  the  earth-fire  only  in  being  everlast- 
ing. This  use  of  a  word  so  remarkably  descriptive  in  a  double 
meaning  is  intensely  Shakespearian."  —  Fleay.  See  Murray. 
22.  the  second  cock.  Cf.  Romeo  and  Juliet,  IV,  iv,  3-4  : 

The  second  cock  hath  crow'd, 
The  curfew  bell  hath  rung,  't  is  three  o'clock. 

27.  cast  him.  The  quibble  is  between  'cast,'  i.e.  'throw,'  as  a 
wrestling  term,  and  'cast '  in  the  sense  of  '  ease  my  stomach  of.' 


J0          THE   NEW  HUO5Gf$/SfiAKESPEARBUAW'*i5 

htih  p: 


'd  the 

MACBETH.  I  '11  bring  you  to  him. 

MACDUFF.    I  kribWithi'9-M'a';JoyrM¥r6AiSbTie?1:o  you  ; 


o't  313  .Lnahi  ,9Jr,J  03  ji  2fiW    .wuaoAl 
MACBETH.    The  labour  we  delights  in,  ^fhj-s^  g^.j%ov  j£,-; 


yu  ,ie  ^ 

d  1    . 


_SLENNOX.    The  night  has  been  unruly  :  whe^  w,e 
Our  chimneys  were  blown  down  ;  and,  as  they  say, 
Lamentings  heard  i'  th^  W,  'S^/angeAscreams  of  death, 
And,  prophesying  with  acprvt^ten^n  vrit  2i    .T-i'a:v.t^ 
Of  dire  combusii,Q(n,a^d.p^i[fusr'^,reAfer4J;s//rj  gxifi  gallon;!  ::;O 
New  hatch'd  to  th'  woeful  ^iggf,th^)9b^»u 
Clafn^ur'4-,-the,JiT|4oi^g  night  :   some  say,  the 
Was  feverou^r^^h^Jcegri  ,-„;-;;,  gn^  9ri,  K 

'T  was  a  rough 


37-38.  Prose  in  Ff.  44.  combustion   FI  |  combustions 

38.  [Exit]  Eaqt  M'rf(M«ifeFf.Sj  FoF3F4.    .Jimo  iH    . 

40-42.  In    Ff   four   lines,    ending  45-47-  New  .  .  .  shake  |  four  lines 


shake. 


-,38..1iiBittpd:.H,appoihtfldi-;  :(Cf;-7is;;Mdz^i^z%ms^I^  Hi^'ijac'  an? 

j  39*  .jiHere  we  -haf^  a:  significant  norte  of  character,  MacbethtiC&lche^' 
himself  iu/theL&tteBatica'of  a  falsehood,'  ^hiiii  ;  is  something-  aj)«odds~: 
with  his  natur^  ayid'haMlual  feelings  ;  and  ^starfofoabktiKe)«<  friend- 
ing of  his  speech.,  as  from  a  spontaneous  impulse  to  be  true. 

44.  combustion.    A,  commqn.  Elizabethan  mea^iji^jig^/vyas  'tumult.' 

45.  obscure:  darkness-haunting.    Cf.  Julius  dcsar,  I,  iii.  26;  Titus 


syllabi^  in'Shafcfefep««ar^.4s  Wffc^tftt  the 


SCENE  iiiflASHP.MMAHMACBEO'HH  W3VI    HHT 

LENNOX.   7tfy;youhg  remembrance'^rannoCcpabalWiS 
cA  fellow  ^oatJj^ja  silil  ;ilcw  bns  ,qu  3«n  eavjng  iuo\  mort  zA 
.Ibd  rift*-<«i#  MHCTKHteiH}  SDncrreJnuoo  oT 


MACDUFF.   O  ho^j^^c^ro^^r^r  ^tongue  nor  heart 
Cannot  conceive  nor  name  thee  1 
MACBETH  )        .aaaniaud  9fiJ  2'  JcriV/ 

LENNOX   '  I  '<9il£(I  °J  2ll£D 

MACDUFF.   Con'fte  n 
MK^k^S^s  murder  hath  broke  ope 
The  Lord's  moin^trtiWel  M'kmW&W  lo1  jon  ei 
The  life  o'  the  building.     '1£9  a'numov/  £  ni  ,noi: 

MACBETH.  What  is  't  ^A  ^  ttoffe  r°!uo^S 

LENNOX.    Mean  you^h^^^je^y^ 

MACDUFF.    Approach  the  chamber,  and  destroy  your  sight 
ii7-.ii-  ^.OtJpnBfl  -mrpriBtl  Q  , 

With  a  new  Gorgon.    Do  not  bid  me  speak  ; 
c.  ,  .,  ,  .  !  D  isbiLfrn  g'  T3J?cm  IBVOI  wO 

See,  and  then  speak  yourselves. 


_,.,        ,H'I3aOATYaA         T 

/  MACBETH  d!«<z  LENNOX] 
.i98OOn,iup  ni  .JsrfW 
wake,  awake  ! 

n  •  L         i  •tJ"ISfi'<vii'1rT£  l^r'^   QPJ  i  .OUOHAa   , 

Ring  the  alarum-Dell,   Murder,  and  treason  !  6p 

•~z  ,  „        ..jlsZYltf  JDlD£l}qOD  .syfi^Tq  I  ,nir(I  169U 

Banuo  and  Donalbam     Malcolm       w 


~  ,  „        ..  . 

Banquo  and  Donalbam  r  Malcolm  !  awake  ! 

cu  i       a  ^u-    j  i         j     ^L>          .O8_Jpaei  j:  VJK8  bnA 

Shake  off  this  downy  sleep,  death  s  counterfeit, 

And  look  onv]d:eath  iteeUd  up,  up,  and^SetJnjnq?    esmtj*  .?? 

9.1  ;I  sno    b'isMtfm  ...  0  .CT-^T  biK'iosrfT     llsd   ">Ai   gaifl  .da 

50-51.  tongue  .V  .^hee  |  separate  line  in  Ff. 


living  God,"  2  Corinthians,  vi,  16. 


8<raoob 

VeVe 
tf^ 


„„  ia-poi  b;u  tv^     Q9i3    )£i     /i 

What  was  that  snaky-headed  Gorgon  shield, 

rig  Mt  ^e^lfrie^'4or4;Tincbnquered  Vl'rf  n,'  " 
Wherewith  she  f  feeisd  lier  foes  tD  ctrtrgtale-d  ifenif  :  x 


58          THE    NEW  HUDSON    SHAKESPEARE     ACT  n 

The  great  doom's  image  !   Malcolm  !  Banquo  ! 

As  from  your  graves  rise  up,  and  walk  like  sprites,  65 

To  countenance  this  horror.    Ring  the  bell.       [£e!l  rings'] 

Enter  LADY  MACBETH 

LADY  MACBETH.    What 's  the  business, 
That  such  a  hideous  trumpet  calls  to  parley 
The  sleepers  of  the  house?  speak,  speak  ! 

MACDUFF.  O  gentle  lady, 

'T  is  not  for  you  to  hear  what  I  can  speak  :  70 

The  repetition,  in  a  woman's  ear, 
Would  murder  as  it  fell. 

Enter  BANQUO 

O  Banquo,  Banquo, 
Our  royal  master  's  murder'd  ! 

LADY  MACBETH.  Woe,  alas  ! 

What,  in  our  house? 

BANQUO.  Too  cruel  anywhere. 

Dear  Duff,  I  prithee,  contradict  thyself,  75 

And  say  it  is  not  so. 

65.  sprites  1  sprights  Ff.  67.  Scene  V  Pope. 

66.  Ring   the   bell  |  Theobald  73-73-  0  ...  murder'd  I  one  line 
omits.                                                              in  Ff. 

64.  great  doom's  image:  picture  of  the  Judgment-day.  Cf.  'image 
of  that  horror '  in  King  Lear,  V,  iii,  264.  "  The  strong  medial  pause 
in  the  line  indicates  that  Macduff  waits  a  moment  for  their  reply  to 
his  summons."  —  Verity. 

66.  countenance  :  lend  countenance  to,  be  in  keeping  with.  '  Ring 
the  bell '  is  omitted  by  some  editors,  who  regard  it  as  a  stage  direction 
that  had  crept  into  the  Folio  text. 

74.  Lady  Macbeth's  first  thought  appears  to  be,  that  she  and  her 
husband  may  be  suspected  of  the  murder. 


SCENE  HI  MACBETH  59 

Re-enter  MACBETH  and  LENNOX,  with  Ross 

MACBETH.    Had  I  but  died  an  hour  before  this  chance, 
I  had  liv'd  a  blessed  time  ;  for,  from  this  instant, 
There  's  nothing  serious  in  mortality  : 
All  is  but  toys ;  renown  and  grace  is  dead  ;  80 

The  wine  of  life  is  drawn,  and  the  mere  lees 
Is  left  this  vault  to  brag  of. 

Enter  MALCOLM  and  DONALBAIN 

DONALBAIN.    What  is  amiss? 

MACBETH.  You  are,  and  do  not  know 't : 

The  spring,  the  head,  the  fountain  of  your  blood 
Is  stopp'd,  the  very  source  of  it  is  stopp'd.  85 

MACDUFF.    Your  royal  father  's  murder'd. 

MALCOLM.  O  !  by  whom  ? 

LENNOX.    Those  of  his  chamber,  as  it  seem'd,  had  done  't : 
Their  hands  and  faces  were  all  badg'd  with  blood ; 
So  were  their  daggers,  which  unwip'd  we  found 
Upon  their  pillows  :  90 

They  star'd,  and  were  distracted  ;  no  man's  life 
Was  to  be  trusted  with  them. 

MACBETH.    O,  yet  I  do  repent  me  of  my  fury, 
That  I  did  kill  them. 

MACDUFF.  Wherefore  did  you  so? 

91-92.  In  Ff  lines  end  distracted,  them. 

79.  mortality :  human  life.    So  in  King  John,  V,  vii,  5. 

81-82.  Observe  the  fine  links  of  association  in  'wine'  and  'vault'; 
the  latter  having  a  double  reference,  to  the  wine-vault  and  to  the 
firmament  over-arching  the  world  of  human  life. 

83.  badg'd :  marked  as  with  a  distinctive  symbol.  In  2  Henry  l'I. 
Ill,  ii,  200,  occurs  "  Murder's  crimson  badge." 


THE   NEW  HKTnSCC^  SHAKESPEARE  : 


>VWbqxoan:  ?l>ev^wsB;.«3iaMdpt8wq5krate   and 

luort  rus  bsrb  Jucf  I  bsH    .HTSHDAM  95 
Loyal  udjpQfBpyB  a^orr^pt?^  p^j  ,  fi  ,/vi,  bfifl  l 

The  expedition  of  my.y^^v^  gwo|l38  §p  ,,,,„  g,  9wrfT 
j^utrun  the  pau5(fo^^&^*f&ty,,^cai^oj  ,ud  gi  [IA 
His  silver  skin^^^^js^d^^g^^,  lo  3(,-lff  <JfiT 
And  his  gash'd  stabs  look'd  like  ^  b^c^i^^^^j  ^3j  j,<jo 
For  ruin's  wasteful  entrance  ;  there,  the  murderers, 
Steep'd  in  the:  c<alo«r6><d^their  .tKade^Miei^  'daggers 
Unmannerly  breech'd  with  gpre.;r!wh;O,pp^  r«fr^i 

^bMcfti^^rrf  tteefr^  in  that  heart 

Courage  tq^ake.^^?  feo^  ^    b£3rf  yrij  ^^^^  9rfT 

:  LADY  MACBEIlfqqoJg  ?.i  Jt  lo  s^JP 
MACDUFF.    Lo9yq.the^adjfhjcl  I£,<OT  n 

[Aside  to 

8rd  b  9?.orIT 
That 


r^  :  ewofliq  liyrf?  noq  J 

97.  expedition:  haste.  This  meaning  ^ryAy^i^^'-e^p^ijticxwffi'' 
99.  In  Much  Ado  About  Nothing,  ijl,  iv,  10,  is  "  clotl^  ofgoj^, 

iac'd  with  silver."    See  note  on  II,  ii,  56.    >i^t'''ris  n)df'i!nipfobat51e:'tnat 

Shakespeare,  pat  thdse  forced  an$  UnnathraHm^aphWr^tih'to^  l^e 
mouth  of  Macbeth  as  a  mark  of  artifice  an<}  j  dj$aprftiij£.tji<>t>,  fo  sfeoiw 
the  difference  Between  ,  the  studied,  language  of  hypocrisy  an4'  the 
natural  outcries  of  sudden  passion.  The  whole  speech,  so  consid- 
ered, is  a  remark^Je  in.^ncg.pf  judgrnejit,.as  jt_9onsists  entirely  of 
antithesis  and  metaphor."  —  Johnson. 

100-101.  The  image  is  of  atesieging?armymafcingi;.'bfeaeh  in"  the 
•walls  of  a  eitjf,  and  thereby  opening  *  way  'fdr.'g^neraVrriassatre'and 
pillage. 

103.  This  probably  means  rftdalycrOTferfedjdreseedi  with  blood. 
"  Language  soi  forcefd  i^ofnly  appropriate  irt  Chfecmouth 
murderer  dissembling  guJ^t.'*  —  Abbott.'    ^ 


SCEHK  nflflA3<I23}iABfi\<21BErHJH  W3H   3HT 


here,  where  duigfefej^fiajaiq  b'gluvibni;  sd: 
Hid  in  an  auger-hole,  may  rush,  and 
Let's  away.  ,1  ob  oz  bnA 

Our  tears  are  nolflyed^brew'd. 

^sMALCQMiJ.Tib^^MlifijtoiDQNALfAA^-NcH1  tHii  strong:  soWow 
Upon  the  foot  of  motion.         .isril^oJ  Il-sri  arlj  'i  Jtjam  bnA 
BANQUO.  .baJndJnoo  Ib'/Look  to  the  lady; 

/  \^\LAiw  <MACB'&T}{  /V  carried  oui~_ 
whamcwe  fcavegburinakefl  fraUtiiis/Jiid/iV/    .!/.Jor>jAl/ 
That  suffer  in  exposure,  let  us  meet 

And  question  this  mosfotxfoocrjf:  piece  afcwtix&pu  nc  vo  .{?  n^ 
To  know  ittttH%<e3-  ^iF^Mrfe 

oT 


,boofd  ni  ican  ari?  :  sdlimg  a'asrn  ni 

108-110.  Where  there  is  no  hiding-place  so  sipf*mj,Ut4Jbat>niurde;r 

may  be  lurking  therein,  ready  to  spring  upon  us  at  any  moment. 

their  -ifefche*  'has  been  murdereAfoi 
thif-  tHe:  santd  :  motive  means  death  to;  the-mdelves 
as  well. 

t.:-  Some,  regard  tFis^HWoort  as 
l.   Ihk  question1  *  is  "tery^nraceiiat'm  the  -tktet- 

D)iming,6f  Lady  Macbeih'a^baracter^  Jf  ffeig^ed^'whjf  was  irnot  d6ne 
wbewthfr-Hwrdef  of  Darvfcaa'Aasxanrioanced  ?  The  anm?&iwem«to  of 
%k«se  additionai  HraFders>take8'berby  aurp'risfc^she  was  not  preparwd 
for  it;  whereas  in  theiatfidr-jriase  she'iad,  b}'iiier  fearful  ervergy  of 
wit  steeled;  her  newes^arp)  lontrbefbrehand/  "F.6r:iread£al  «iefeds 

tFength  ;  "baVthe  Surprise  of 

r,  oanYhkjj.sheihafe  not  cdunted*-  deiprivBJilhiefwiddenJy 
Wafnmc«shisbHtchery  of.Duncan's 
grooms,  the  lady  swoons,  —  nbt.iafei^iiiftg  biitiivfactv!-^-andis.berne 


forth  undressed.    This  is  what  he  refers  to  ini^aufc^rmkfed  fraihiers.' 


62          THE   NEW  HUDSON   SHAKESPEARE     ACT  H 

In  the  great  hand  of  God  I  stand,  and  thence 
Against  the  undivulg'd  pretence  I  fight 
Of  treasonous  malice. 

MACDUFF.  And  so  do  I. 

ALL.  So  all. 

MACBETH.  Let 's  briefly  put  on  manly  readiness,  120 
And  meet  i'  the  hall  together. 

ALL.  Well  contented. 

\_Exeunt  all  but  MALCOLM  and  DONALBAIN] 

MALCOLM.   What  will  you  do?    Let's  not  consort  with 

them : 

To  show  an  unfelt  sorrow  is  an  office 
Which  the  false  man  does  easy.    I  '11  to  England. 

DONALBAIN.   To  Ireland  I:  our  separated  fortune         125 
Shall  keep  us  both  the  safer  :  where  we  are, 
There  's  daggers  in  men's  smiles  :  the  near  in  blood, 
The  nearer  bloody. 

121.  [Exeunt  all .  .  .  \  Exeunt  Ff.  125-128.  To   ...   bloody  I  in  Ff 

122.  Two  lines  in  Ff.  lines  end  I,  safer,  smiles,  bloody. 
124.  Two  lines  in  Ff. 

117-119.  The  natural  construction  is,  '  and  thence  I  fight  against 
the  undivulg'd  pretence  of  treasonous  malice.'  '  Pretence '  here  means 
'intention'  or  'purpose.'  A  frequent  usage.  Cf.  the  verb,  II,  iv,  24. 

120.  briefly:  quickly.  So  in  Cymbeline,  V,  v,  106.  —  manly  readi- 
ness: man's  equipment.  The  expression  suggests  preparation  for 
fight.  It  is  in  marked  contrast  to  'naked  frailties.' 

124.  easy.  In  Elizabethan  literature  adjectives  are  often  used  as 
adverbs.  See  Abbott,  §  i.  —  I'll  to  England.  "  Malcolme  Cammore 
and  Donald  Bane  the  sons  of  King  Duncane,  for  feare  of  their  Hues 
.  .  .  fled  into  Cumberland,  where  Malcolme  remained  .  .  .  but  Donald 
passed  over  into  Ireland."  —  Holinshed. 

127.  near  :  nearer.  '  Near '  is  really  an  old  comparative,  as  may  be 
seen  in  Richard  //,  V,  i,  88.  Donalbain  suspects  Macbeth,  who  is 
next  in  blood  or  of  kin. 


SCENE  iv  MACBETH  63 

MALCOLM.  This  murderous  shaft  that  's  shoi 

Hath  not  yet  lighted;  and  our  safest  way 
Is  to  avoid  the  aim.    Therefore,  to  horse  ;  130 

And  let  us  not  be  dainty  of  leave-taking, 
But  shift  away  :  there  's  warrant  in  that  theft 
Which  steals  itself,  when  there  's  no  mercy  left.     \_Exeunf\ 

SCENE  IV.    Outside  MACBETH  's  castie 
Enter  Ross  and  an  OLD  MAN 

OLD  MAN.   Threescore-and-ten  I  can  remember  well: 
Within  the  volume  of  which  time  I  have  seen 
Hours  dreadful  and  things  strange;  but  this  sore  night 
Hath  trifl'd  former  knowings. 

Ross.  Ah,  good  father, 

Thou  see'st  the  heavens,  as  troubl'd  with  man's  act,  5 

Threatens  his  bloody  stage  :  by  th'  clock  't  is  day, 
And  yet  dark  night  strangles  the  travelling  lamp. 
Is  't  night's  predominance,  or  the  day's  shame 
That  darkness  does  the  face  of  earth  entomb, 
When  living  light  should  kiss  it? 

SCENE  IV  I  Scene  VI  Pope.  7.  travelling     FgF*   |   travailing 

4.  Ah  Rowe  |  Ha  Ff. 


129-130.  Suspecting  this  murder  to  be  the  work  of  Macbeth, 
Malcolm  thinks  it  could  have  no  purpose  but  what  himself  and  his 
brother  equally  stand  in  the  way  of  ;  that  the  '  murderous  shaft  ' 
must  pass  through  them  to  reach  its  mark. 

4.  trifl'd  former  knowings  :  made  of  no  importance  previous 
experiences. 

7.  travelling  lamp:  the  sun.    Cf.  r  Henry  II',  I,  ii,  226. 

8-10.  "  For  the  space  of  six  monethes  togither,  after  this  heinous 
murther  was  committed,  there  appeered  no  sunne  by  day,  nor  moone 


THE    NEW  HUDSON/  .SHAKESPEAREri  _ 


'.  JsriJ  ibrfa  guoiabiom'lfiiTunnatural^ioo.'iAJ'  10 
Even  like  the  deed>:that?SHion&  IOn  Tb&sdstf?  la»t;on  ri.'jsK 
•Aialcon,  tow'ring  in:hen  pride  G£"pl&ce,m:x  odi  biovc  oi  c; 
Was  by  a  mousing  ,Q\rL-laawfc'jd:;at  andikiH'cU  Jo  a  su  1<A  IT;/. 
Ross.  And  Dtuican/s  horaesi^/a^Wi^mrat.  Grange  and 
j  MvMYx^certaHbri-v^nsfa  on  g'  cnarij  nsriw  ,lle>ali  zfjs9J«j  cij\nU 
Beauteous  and  swift,  the  minions  of  their  race,  15 

Turn'd  wild  m  ^f^^^^^^f^f^ 
Contending  'gainst  obedience,  as  they  would  make 
War  with  mankinil  ujQ  s^o  \r»\s>  r.r.oH  *r^K?s. 


Ross.    Theyf,$d,sp,  tq  th;  arr^^rne^t.^.mineg^ye^^iv/ 

Thatlpok'^upon^,^   ^§n£1)s  ,sflirfj  bne  Mbiwib  en-oH 

Enter  MigJtJtWP^  lOirnui  b'flhJ  H 

.oao^ 
were  comes  tne  gooaf  iviacaurf 

How 

14.  Two 

17-18.  First  line  in  F/ ends  w,ould,        so,  upon 't,  Macduff . 

^rnjsns  &  /x;o  3fl)  10  (eoi7£a;rno:t:>tq 

by  night  in  anie  j>art  pf  ^h^jr.eajnj.e,.'^— jHplipshe^  3;&-rryreirfKtn' 
omens  and  signs  are  describecTby  HQljnsbed  in  cqnaection  with  the 
murder  of  King  Duff. 

12-18.  "  Monstrous  sights  also  that  were  scene  within  the  Scotish 
K5n£dt>me  frMt1  ye¥r^i!^e¥i  these,  horsses^ih1  L6utn:ia.n,.beirigl)f' 'sin- 
gular beautie  and  swiftnesse,  'did  eate  their  owne  fleshe  .  .  .  There 


i  tenn  of  i  faloohfy.to.!  describe.'  the,  spical 
,  its  j'/plflce''  whence  ;it  .siwbops^.on,'tke>preyJ;(Cfi 
2  Henry  VI,  II,  i,  10.  .TtetweidriSiStilLused.  by  g^mekBepersi  ttx  de<- 


13.  mousing.    "A  very  effective  epithet,  as  contrasting-.lhe;fekpn\ 
in  her  pride"X>£  placfe,,"  vUbha  bif  d  fiKit  .is;.aced$to9»dl  ijnsHekrJte 

;Ti*il?Pti  -.  -i.'a.-.'  n  f.'ir  io  s.)j»qc=  sii.1  io'i  ''  .01--? 
na:  darliugsr  favorites.  ;  Fnom  Fit.  yttigvum,  ' 


Itow  zgairfj  332  Why*r«fle 

Ross.    Is't  known  who  did  this  more  than- blowtjs deed? 

MACDUFF.  Thds«r  jhat/MacbetteibAihj^aaodoi  bio  iwo  laaJ 

Ross.  .T3dJBl  ,Ib-AiM3th«aJ#  ! 

<j'boQ    .x*M  cuO 

to  abnaiil  bns  .bsJUbe^cw^rd^tjofcfcVi*  jnn' 
Donalbain,  the  King's  two  sons,  25 

Are  stol'n  away  and  fled ;  which  puts  upon  them 
Suspicion  of  the  deed. 

Ross.  'Gainst  nature  still ! 

Thriftless  ambition,  that  will  ravin  up 
Thine  own  life's  means  !   Then  't  is  most  like 
The  sovereignty  will  fall  upon  Macbeth.  30 

MACDUFF.    He  is  already  nam'd ;  and  gone  to  Scone 
To  be  invested. 

Ross.  Where  is  Duncan's  body? 

MACDUFF.    Carried  to  Colmekill, 
The  sacred  storehouse  of  his  predecessors, 
And  guardian  of  their  bones. 

Ross.  Will  you  to  Scone?  35 

MACDUFF.    No,  cousin,  I  '11  to  Fife. 

Ross.  Well,  I  will  thither. 

28.  ravin  up :  completely  devour.  Cf. '  kill  them  up,'  As  You  Like 
//,  II,  i,  62. 

31-33.  "  He  .  .  .  foorthwith  went  vnto  Scone  where  ...  he  receiued 
the  inuesture  of  the  Kingdome.  .  .  .  The  bodie  of  Duncane  was  .  .  . 
remoued  and  conueied  unto  Colmekill,  and  there  laid  in  a  sepulture 
amongst  his  predecessors." —  Holinshed.  Scone  (pronounced  skoon) 
was  the  place  of  coronation  of  the  Scottish  kings.  'The  stone  of 
destiny,'  carried  to  Westminster  by  Edward  I  in  1296,  was  part  of 
the  coronation  chair.  Colmekill  (i.e.  the  cell  of  St.  Columba)  is  the 
modern  lona. 


66         THE   NEW  HUDSON   SHAKESPEARE     ACT  n 

MACDUFF.   Well,  may  you  see  things  well  done  there,  — 

adieu  !  — 

Lest  our  old  robes  sit  easier  than  our  new  ! 
Ross.    Farewell,  father. 

OLD  MAN.    God's  benison  go  with  you;  and  with  those 
That  would  make  good  of  bad,  and  friends  of  foes  !  41 

[Exeunt] 


ACT  III 
SCENE  I.    Forres.     The  palace 

Enter  BANQUO 

BANQUO.    Thou  hast  it  now  :  king,  Cawdor,  Glamis,  all, 
As  the  weird  women  promis'd,  and,  I  fear, 
Thou  play'dst  most  foully  for  't  :  yet  it  was  said 
It  should  not  stand  in  thy  posterity, 

But  that  myself  should  be  the  root  and  father  5 

Of  many  kings.    If  there  come  truth  from  them, 
As  upon  thee,  Macbeth,  their  speeches  shine, 
Why,  by  the  verities  on  thee  made  good, 
May  they  not  be  my  oracles  as  well, 
And  set  me  up  in  hope?    But  hush  !  no  more.  10 

Sennet  sounded.    Enter  MACBETH,  as  king  ;  LADY  MACBETH, 
as  queen  ;  LENNOX,  Ross,  Lords,  Ladies,  and  Attendants 

MACBETH.    Here  's  our  chief  guest. 

LADY  MACBETH.  If  he  had  been  forgotten, 

Forres.    The  palace  \  Ff  omit.  n.  .  ..  LADY  MACBETH,  as  queen 

2.  weird  |  weyard  FI  |  weyward        .  .  .  Attendants  Globe  I  Lady  Lenox, 

Rosse,  Lords,  and  Attendants  Ff. 


7.  As  :  inasmuch  as.  —  speeches  shine  :  predictions  cast  lustre. 

ii.  Sennet.  A  peculiar  set  of  notes  played  on  the  trumpet, 
announcing  the  approach  of  royal  personages.  Sometimes  spelled 
'  signate,'  as  though  connected  etymologically  with  '  signal.'  Cf. 
'signature  '  in  musical  notation. 


68         THE   NEW  HUDSON   SHAKESPEARE   ACT  in 

It  had  been  as  a  gap  in  our  great  feast, 
And  all-thing  unbecoming. 

MACBETH.    To-night  we  hold  a  solemn  supper,  sir. 
And  I  '11  request  your  presence. 

BANQUO.  Let  your  highness  15 

Command  upon  me ;  to  the  which  my  duties 
Are  with  a  most  indissoluble  tie 
For  ever  knit. 

MACBETH.    Ride  you  this  afternoon  ? 

BANQUO.  Ay,  my  good  lord. 

MACBETH.   We  should  have  else  desir'd  your  good  advice, 
Which  still  hath  been  both  grave  and  prosperous,  21 

In  this  day's  council ;  but  we  '11  take  to-morrow. 
Is't  far  you  ride? 

BANQUO.   As  far,  my  lord,  as  will  fill  up  the  time 
'Twixt  this  and  supper  :   go  not  my  horse  the  better,     .     25 
I  must  become  a  borrower  of  the  night 
For  a  dark  hour  or  twain. 

MACBETH.  Fail  not  our  feast. 

BANQUO.    My  lord,  I  will  not. 

MACBETH.    We  hear,  our  bloody  cousins  are  bestow'd 
In  England  and  in  Ireland,  not  confessing  30 

Their  cruel  parricide,  filling  their  hearers 
With  strange  invention  :   but  of  that  to-morrow, 

13.  all-thing :  quite,  altogether,  entirely.    See  Murray. 

14.  solemn:    official,  formal.     Cf.  All's  Well  that  Ends  Well,  II, 
iii,  187. 

15.  In  previous  editions  of  Hudson's  Shakespeare  Rowe's  reading 
of  '  Lay  '  for  '  Let '  was  adopted  because  of  '  upon  '  in  the  next  line. 
But  '  upon  '  belongs  to  'command  '  rather  than  to  '  me.' 

21.  still:  always.  —  grave:  weighty.  —  prosperous:  turning  out  well 
25.  go  not  my  horse  the  better :  if  my  horse  go  not  fast  enough. 


SCENE  i  MACBETH  69 

When  therewithal  we  shall  have  cause  of  state 

Craving  us  jointly.    Hie  you  to  horse ;  adieu, 

Till  you  return  at  night.    Goes  Fleance  with  you?  35 

BANQUO.   Ay,  my  good  lord  :  our  time  does  call  upon  's. 

MACBETH.    I  wish  your  horses  swift  and  sure  of  foot; 
And  so  I  do  commend  you  to  their  backs. 
Farewell.  \_Exit  BANQUO] 

Let  every  man  be  master  of  his  time  40 

Till  seven  at  night ;  to  make  society 
The  sweeter  welcome,  we  will  keep  ourself 
Till  supper-time  alone  :  while  then,  God  be  with  you  ! 

[Exeunt  all  but  MACBETH  and  an  ATTENDANT] 
Sirrah,  a  word  with  you  :  attend  those  men 
Our  pleasure?  45 

ATTENDANT.   They  are,  my  lord,  without  the  palace-gate. 

MACBETH.    Bring  them  before  us.         [Exit  ATTENDANT] 

To  be  thus  is  nothing, 
But  to  be  safely  thus.    Our  fears  in  Banquo 
Stick  deep;  and  in  his  royalty  of  nature 
Reigns  that  which  would  be  fear'd.   T  is  much  he  dares ;  50 

34-35.  Three  lines  in  Ff,  ending  44.  Scene  II  Pope, 

horse,  night,  you.  47.  [Exit    ATTENDANT]     Exit 

42-43.  Three  lines  in  Ff,  ending  Servant  Ff. 

welcome,  alone,  you.  47-50.  To  be. .  .dares  I  Four  lines 

43.  [Exeunt ...  |  Exeunt  Lords  Ff.  in  Ff,  ending  thus,  deep,  that,  dares. 

43.  while :  until.  A  common  Elizabethan  usage.  Cf.  Twelfth  A'ight, 
IV,  iii,  29.  —  God  be  with  you.  The  full  form  of  '  good-bye.'  Some- 
times written  'God-b'wy-ye,'  or  'God  buy  you,'  which  is  probably 
the  pronunciation  here. 

48.  But:  unless,  except.  The  sentence  means,  To  be  on  the 
throne  is  nothing  at  all  if  I  cannot  be  so  in  perfect  security.  —  in: 
on  account  of.  Cf.  Julius  C<zsar,  II,  i,  190 :  "  There  is  no  fear  in  him; 
let  him  not  die." 


70          THE    NEW  HUDSON   SHAKESPEARE    ACT  in 

And,  to  that  dauntless  temper  of  his  mind, 

He  hath  a  wisdom  that  doth  guide  his  valour 

To  act  in  safety.   There  is  none  but  he 

Whose  being  I  do  fear ;  and,  under  him, 

My  Genius  is  rebuk'd,  as,  it  is  said,  55 

Mark  Antony's  was  by  Caesar.    He  chid  the  sisters, 

When  first  they  put  the  name  of  king  upon  me, 

And  bade  them  speak  to  him ;  then  prophet-like 

They  hail'd  him  father  to  a  line  of  kings  : 

Upon  my  head  they  plac'd  a  fruitless  crown,  60 

And  put  a  barren  sceptre  in  my  gripe, 

Thence  to  be  wrench'd  with  an  unlineal  hand, 

No  son  of  mine  succeeding.    If 't  be  so, 

For  Banquo's  issue  have  I  fil'd  my  mind ; 

For  them  the  gracious  Duncan  have  I  murder'd ;  65 

Put  rancours  in  the  vessel  of  my  peace 

Only  for  them ;  and  mine  eternal  jewel 

Given  to  the  common  enemy  of  man, 

To  make  them  kings,  the  seed  of  Banquo  kings  ! 

69.  seed  Pope  |  Seedes  FiF-2. 

51.  to:  in  addition  to.    Cf.  King  John,  I,  i,  144. 

55-56.  With  this  use  of  '  Genius '  cf.  Troilus  and  Cressida,  IV, 
iv,  52  ;  Julius  C&sar,  II,  i,  66.  The  '  Caesar'  referred  to  is  Octavius. 
Cf.  Antony  and  Cleopatra,  II,  iii,  15-22.  "  For  thy  demon,  said  he 
(that  is  to  say,  the  good  angell  and  spirit  that  keepeth  thee),  is 
afraid  of  his  :  and  being  couragious  and  high  when  he  is  alone, 
becommeth  fearfull  and  timorous  when  he  cometh  near  unto  the 
other."  —  Life  of  Marcus  Antonius,  North's  Plutarch. 

62.  with  an  unlineal  hand :  by  the  hand  of  one  not  heir  to  me. 

64.  fil'd:  defiled.  Anglo-Saxon/y/aw, 'make  foul.'  Whence 'foul,' 
filth,'  etc.  This  use  of  '  file '  is  still  common  in  Scotland. 

67.  eternal  jewel :  immortal  soul.    Cf.  Richard  II,  I,  i,  180-181. 


SCENE  I  MACBETH  71 

Rather  than  so,  come,  fate,  into  the  list,  70 

And  champion  me  to  th'  utterance  !  —  Who 's  there  ? 

Re-enter  ATTENDANT,  with  two  MURDERERS 

Now  go  to  th'  door,  and  stay  there  till  we  call.  — 

\Exit  ATTENDANT] 
Was  it  not  yesterday  we  spoke  together? 

i  MURDERER.   It  was,  so  please  your  highness. 

MACBETH.  Well  then,  now 

Have  you  consider'd  of  my  speeches?   Know  75 

That  it  was  he,  in  the  times  past,  which  held  you 
So  under  fortune ;  which  you  thought  had  been 
Our  innocent  self  :  this  I  made  good  to  you 
In  our  last  conference,  pass'd  in  probation  with  you, 
How  you  were  borne  in  hand,  how  cross'd,  the  instruments, 
Who  wrought  with  them,  and  all  things  else  that  might     81 
To  half  a  soul  and  to  a  notion  craz'd 
Say,  '  Thus  did  Banquo.' 

71.  Two  lines  in  Ff.  75-8i.  Nine  lines  in   Ff,  ending 

74.  i  MURDERER  I  Murth.  Ff.  speeches,  past,  fortune,  self,  confer- 
—  now  |  Ff  give  to  line  75.  ence,  you,  cross'd,  them,  might. 

71.  champion  me:  fight  against  me.  —  to  th'  utterance:  to  the 
extremity,  to  the  death.  It  is  the  Fr.  a  entrance,  often  written  incor- 
rectly a  routrance  (outre,  Lat.  ultra, '  beyond ').  The  meaning  of  the 
passage  is,  Let  Fate,  that  has  decreed  the  throne  to  Banquo's 
issue,  enter  the  lists  in  support  of  its  own  decrees,  I  will  fight 
against  it  to  the  last  extremity,  whatever  be  the  consequence. 

79.  pass'd  in  probation  :  went  over  the  details  of  the  proof. 

80.  borne  in  hand:   deluded  with  false  hopes   (cf.  Fr.  maintenir, 
from    late    Lat.    manutenere).  —  cross'd:    thwarted.  —  instruments: 
agents.    The  general  meaning  of  the  passage  is  that  Banquo  has 
managed  to  hold  up  their  hopes,  while  secretly  preventing  fruition ; 
thus  using  them  as  tools,  and  cheating  them  out  of  their  pay. 

82.  notion:  understanding,  judgment.    Cf.  King  Lear,  1,  iv,  248. 


72          THE   NEW  HUDSON   SHAKESPEARE   ACT  in 

i  MURDERER.  You  made  it  known  to  us. 

MACBETH.    I  did  so,  and  went  further,  which  is  now 
Our  point  of  second  meeting.    Do  you  find  85 

Your  patience  so  predominant  in  your  nature 
That  you  can  let  this  go?   Are  you  so  gospell'd, 
To  pray  for  this  good  man  and  for  his  issue, 
Whose  heavy  hand  hath  bow'd  you  to  the  grave 
And  beggar'd  yours  for  ever? 

i  MURDERER.  We  are  men,  my  liege.        90 

MACBETH.    Ay,  in  the  catalogue  ye  go  for  men ; 
As  hounds  and  greyhounds,  mongrels,  spaniels,  curs, 
Shoughs,  water-rugs,  and  demi-wolves,  are  clept 
All  by  the  name  of  dogs  :  the  valued  file 
Distinguishes  the  swift,  the  slow,  the  subtle,  95 

The  housekeeper,  the  hunter,  every  one 
According  to  the  gift  which  bounteous  nature 
Hath  in  him  clos'd ;  whereby  he  does  receive 
Particular  addition,  from  the  bill 

That  writes  them  all  alike  ;  and  so  of  men.  100 

Now,  if  you  have  a  station  in  the  file, 

84-90.  Nine   lines   in   Ff,  ending  93.  Shoughs  1  S  how  gh  e  s    Ff  | 

so,  now,  meeting,  predominant,  go,        Shocks     Capell.  —  clept    Capell   | 
man,  hand,  beggar'd,  ever.  dipt  Ff. 

87.  so  gospell'd:  so  filled  with  the  spirit  of  the  Gospel. 

92-93.  Cf.  King  Lear,  III,  vi,  71-73.  —  Shoughs:  shock  dog  (so 
called  from  its  shaggy  hair).  —  water-rugs:  rough  water  dog  (Swed- 
ish rtigg).  —  demi-wolves:  mongrels  bred  between  dogs  and  wolves. 
—  clept:  called.  Cf.  Hamlet,  I,  iv,  19  ;  Love's  Labour's  Lost,  V,  i,  23. 
In  Love's  Labour's  Lost,  I,  i,  42,  V,  iii,  602,  '  yclept '  is  the  form  of  the 
participle.  See  Murray. 

94.  valued  file  :  list  where  dogs  are  graded  according  to  their  worth. 

96.   housekeeper:  watch-dog;  one  that 'keeps' ('guards')  the  house. 

99.  addition :  title  of  distinction.    Cf.  I,  iii,  106, 


SCENE  i  MACBETH  73 

Not  i'  the  worst  rank  of  manhood,  say't; 

And  I  will  put  that  business  in  your  bosoms, 

Whose  execution  takes  your  enemy  off, 

Grapples  you  to  the  heart  and  love  of  us,  105 

Who  wear  our  health  but  sickly  in  his  life, 

Which  in  his  death  were  perfect. 

2  MURDERER.  I  am  one,  my  liege, 

Whom  the  vile  blows  and  buffets  of  the  world 
Hath  so  ir.cens'd,  that  I  am  reckless  what 
I  do  to  spite  the  world. 

i  MURDERER.  And  I  another  ito 

So  weary  with  disasters,  tugg'd  with  fortune, 
That  I  would  set  my  life  on  any  chance, 
To  mend  it,  or  be  rid  on  't. 

MACBETH.  Both  of  you 

Know  Banquo  was  your  enemy. 

BOTH  MURDERERS.  True,  my  lord. 

MACBETH.    So  is  he  mine;  and  in  such  bloody  distance, 
That  every  minute  of  his  being  thrusts  116 

Against  my  near'st  of  life ;  and  though  I  could 
With  barefac'd  power  sweep  him  from  my  sight 

109-110.  Hath  .  s  .  do  Rowe  |  one       one  line  in  Ff. 

line  in  Ff.  114.  BOTH  MURDERERS \Murth. 

113-114.  Both  .  .  .  enemy  Rowe  |        Ff. 

in.  tugg'd  with  fortune :  "  buffeted  by  misfortune."  —  Liddell. 

115.  '  Distance '  (  Old  Fr.  distance,  Lat.  distantia, '  standing  apart ') 
originally  meant  '  discord,'  '  dispute.'  Here  it  probably  is  the  fencing 
term,  meaning  the  definite  interval  of  space  to  be  observed  between 
two  antagonists.  When  men  are  in  a  hot  mortal  encounter  with 
swords,  they  stand  at  just  the  right  distance  apart  for  the  bloodiest 
strokes  or  thrusts.  Cf.  Romeo  and  Juliet,  II,  iv,  21. 

117.  near'st  of  life.    Either  'most  vital  parts'  or  'inmost  soul.' 


74         THE   NEW  HUDSON   SHAKESPEARE   ACT  in 

And  bid  my  will  avouch  it,  yet  I  must  not, 

For  certain  friends  that  are  both  his  and  mine,  120 

Whose  loves  I  may  not  drop,  but  wail  his  fall 

Who  I  myself  struck  down ;  and  thence  it  is, 

That  I  to  your  assistance  do  make  love, 

Masking  the  business  from  the  common  eye 

For  sundry  weighty  reasons. 

2  MURDERER.  We  shall,  my  lord,  125 

Perform  what  you  command  us. 

i  MURDERER.  Though  our  lives  — 

MACBETH.    Your  spirits  shine  through  you.    Within  this 
hour  at  most 

I  will  advise  you  where  to  plant  yourselves ; 

Acquaint  you  with  the  perfect  spy  o'  the  time, 

127.  Two  lines  in  Ff. 

119.  avouch  it :  to  take  responsibility  for  the  deed. 

120.  For :  on  account  of.  A  common  Elizabethan  use.  See  Abbott, 
150. 

122.  Who:  whom.    So  in  III,  iv,  42.    See  Abbott,  274. 

128.  "  He  willed  therefore  the  same  Banquho  with  his  sonne  named 
Fleance,  to  come  to  a  supper  that  he  had  prepared  for  them,  which 
was  in  deed,  as  he  had  deuised,  present 1  death  at  the  hands  of  cer- 
teine  murderers,  whom  he  hired  to  execute  that  deed,  appointing  them 
to  meete  with  the  same  Banquho  and  his  son  without2  the  palace,  as 
they  returned  to  their  lodgings,  and  there  to  slea  them."  —  Holinshed. 

129.  A  much-disputed  passage.    Johnson  proposed  '  a '  for  '  the,' 
and  made  the  line  refer  to  the  third  murderer.    More  probably  the 
meaning  is,  Will  furnish  you  with  an  exact  and  sure  note  or  signal  of 
the  time  when  to  strike ;  which  is  probably  done  by  or  through  the 
third  murderer,  who  joins  them  just  before  the  murder  is  done.    The 
success  of  the  undertaking  depends   on  the  assault   being  rightly 
timed.    So  that  '  the  perfect  spy  of  the  time  '  may  be  '  the  sure  means 
of  spying  or  knowing  the  time.' 

1  immediate.  2  outside. 


SCENE  ii  MACBETH  75 

The  moment  on  't;  for 't  must  be  done  to-night,  130 

And  something  from  the  palace ;  always  thought 

That  I  require  a  clearness  :  and  with  him  — 

To  leave  no  rubs  nor  botches  in  the  work  — 

Fleance  his  son,  that  keeps  him  company, 

Whose  absence  is  no  less  material  to  me  135 

Than  is  his  father's,  must  embrace  the  fate 

Of  that  dark  hour.    Resolve  yourselves  apart; 

I  '11  come  to  you  anon. 

BOTH  MURDERERS.       We  are  resolv'd,  my  lord. 

MACBETH.    I  '11  call  upon  you  straight :  abide  within. 

\_Exeunt  MURDERERS] 

It  is  concluded  :  Banquo,  thy  soul's  flight,  140 

If  it  find  heaven,  must  find  it  out  to-night.  \_Exit~\ 

SCENE  II.    The  palace 
Enter  LADY  MACBETH  and  a  SERVANT 

LADY  MACBETH.    Is  Banquo  gone  from  court? 
SERVANT.   Ay,  madam,  but  returns  again  to-night. 

138.  BOTH  MURDERERS  |  Murth.  Ff.  SCENE   II 1  Scene  III   Pope 

139.  [Exeunt  .  .  .  |  Ff  omit.  —  The  palace  \  Ff  omit. 

141.  [Exit]  Rowe  |  Exeunt  Ff.  LADY   MACBETH  |  Macbeths 

Lady  Ff. 

131-133.  It  being  always  borne  in  mind  that  I  must  stand  clear  of 
blame  or  suspicion.  "  So  that  he  would  not  have  his  house  slaun- 
dered,  but  that  in  time  to  come  he  might  cleare  himselfe." —  Holin- 
shed.  — rubs :  roughnesses,  impediments.  Cf.  the  bowling  and  golfing 
term  'rub  on  the  green.'  The  literal  meaning  is  seen  in  Henry  I', 
II,  ii,  iSS,  "  Every  rub  is  smoothed  on  our  way";  the  figurative  in 
Hamlet,  III,  i,  65,  "ay,  there  's  the  rub."  —  botches.  Murray  suggests 
that  'botch '  is  probably  an  onomatopoetic  word  akin  to  'patch.' 


76          THE   NEW  HUDSON  SHAKESPEARE    ACT  m 

LADY  MACBETH.   Say  to  the  king,  I  would  attend   his 
leisure 

For  a  few  words. 

SERVANT.  Madam,  I  will.  \_Exif\ 

LADY  MACBETH.  Nought 's  had,  all 's  spent, 

Where  our  desire  is  got  without  content :  5 

'T  is  safer  to  be  that  which  we  destroy 

Than  by  destruction  dwell  in  doubtful  joy. 


How  now,  my  lord  !  why  do  you  keep  alone, 

Of  sorriest  fancies  your  companions  making; 

Using  those  thoughts  which  should  indeed  have  died         10 

With  them  they  think  on  ?    Things  without  all  remedy 

Should  be  without  regard  :  what 's  done  is  done. 

MACBETH.    We  have  scotch'd  the  snake,  not  kill'd  it : 
She  '11  close  and  be  herself,  whilst  our  poor  malice 
Remains  in  danger  of  her  former  tooth.  15 

But  let  the  frame  of  things  disjoint,  both  the  worlds  suffer, 
Ere  we  will  eat  our  meal  in  fear,  and  sleep 
In  the  affliction  of  these  terrible  dreams 

13.  scotch'd  Theobald  |  scorch'd  Ff.          16.  Two  lines  in  Ff. 

n.  without  all:  beyond  any.  'Without'  is  literally  'outside  of.' 
13.  scotch'd :  cut,  slashed.  "  Made  narrow  incisions,  as  with  a 
'scutcher 'or  riding  whip." — Herford.  See  'hop-scotch'  in  Murray. 
1  Close  '  in  the  next  line  shows  this  to  be  the  meaning.  Cf.  Corio- 
lanus,  IV,  v,  198:  "he  scotch'd  him  and  he  notch'd  him  like  a  car- 
bonado," where  'carbonado'  means  a  piece  of  meat  slashed  across 
for  broiling.  Liddell  defends  the  Folio  reading  on  the  ground  that 
"  '  scorch  '  is  a  derivative  verb  from  '  score  '  and  means  '  to  hack.'  " 

18-19.  What  '  these  terrible  dreams '  are,  is  shown  in  Lady  Mac- 
beth's  sleep-walking  agonies.  It  is  of  her  state  of  mind,  not  of  his 
own,  that  Macbeth  is  here  thinking.  "  No  witches  have  given  her 


SCENE  II  MACBETH  77 

That  shake  us  nightly  :  better  be  with  the  dead, 

Whom  we,  to  gain  our  peace,  have  sent  to  peace,  20 

Than  on  the  torture  of  the  mind  to  lie 

In  restless  ecstasy.    Duncan  is  in  his  grave ; 

After  life's  fitful  fever  he  sleeps  well; 

Treason  has  done  his  worst :  nor  steel,  nor  poison, 

Malice  domestic,  foreign  levy,  nothing,  25 

Can  touch  him  further. 

LADY  MACBETH.           Come  on ; 
Gentle  my  lord,  sleek  o'er  your  rugged  looks ; 
Be  bright  and  jovial  among  your  guests  to-night. 

MACBETH.   So  shall  I,  love ;  and  so,  I  pray,  be  you : 
Let  your  remembrance  apply  to  Banquo ;  30 

Present  him  eminence,  both  with  eye  and  tongue : 

20  peace  Fi  |  place  FaFsF^  aa.  Two  lines  in  Ff. 

'  hail ' ;  no  airy  dagger  marshals  her  the  way  she  is  going ;  nor  is  she 
afterwards  haunted  by  the  terrible  vision  of  Banquo's  gory  head.  As 
long  as  her  will  remains  her  own  she  can  throw  herself  upon  external 
facts,  and  maintain  herself  in  relation  with  the  definite,  actual  sur- 
roundings ;  it  is  in  her  sleep,  when  the  will  is  incapable  of  action, 
that  she  is  persecuted  by  the  past  which  perpetually  renews  itself, 
not  in  ghostly  shapes,  but  by  the  imagined  recurrence  of  real  and 
terrible  incidents." — Dowden. 

21.  The  reference  is  to  the  torture  of  the  rack.    Cf.  The  Merchant 
of  Venice,  III,  ii,  24-27. 

22.  ecstasy.    In  its  general  sense  the  word  describes  any  violent 
mental  disturbance.    Cf.  The  Tempest,  III,  iii,  108. 

27.  Gentle   my   lord.    This    common   inversion    is    probably    for 
emphasis. 

30.  remembrance  apply  to:  consideration  attach  itself  to. 

31.  Present  him  eminence:  treat  him  as  eminent.    In  lines  30-31 
the  language  is  strained  and  obscure.    Is  Macbeth  ironical,  or  is  he 
wishing  to  keep  his  wife  ignorant  and  innocent  of  the  new  cri-ne 
on  foot  ? 


78          THE   NEW  HUDSON   SHAKESPEARE   ACT  in 

Unsafe  the  while,  that  we 

Must  lave  our  honours  in  these  flattering  streams, 
And  make  our  faces  vizards  to  our  hearts, 
Disguising  what  they  are. 

LADY  MACBETH.  You  must  leave  this.  35 

MACBETH.    O,  full  of  scorpions  is  my  mind,  dear  wife  ! 
Thou  know'st  that  Banquo  and  his  Fleance  lives. 

LADY  MACBETH.    But  in  them  nature's  copy 's  not  eterne. 

MACBETH.    There  's  comfort  yet ;  they  are  assailable ; 
Then  be  thou  jocund  :  ere  the  bat  hath  flown  40 

His  cloister'd  flight ;  ere  to  black  Hecate's  summons 
The  shard-borne  beetle  with  his  drowsy  hums 
Hath  rung  night's  yawning  peal,  there  shall  be  done 
A  deed  of  dreadful  note. 

LADY  MACBETH.  What's  to  be  done? 

MACBETH.    Be  innocent  of  the  knowledge,  dearest  chuck, 

32-33.  In     Ff     lines    end    lave,  42.  shard-borne  FiF2 1  shard-born 

streams.  FaF4  |  sharp-brow'd  D'Avenant. 

37.  Fleance   Rowe  |  Fleans  FiFs  43-44.  In  Ff  first  line  ends  peal. 
F4  I  Feans  Fa 

32-35.  The  very  fact  of  our  being  obliged  thus  to  use  the  arts  of 
hypocrisy  and  dissimulation  proves  that  we  are  not  safe  in  our  seats, 
not  secure  in  the  tenure  of  our  honors  :  we  can  retain  them  only  by 
making  our  life,  even  in  social  intercourse,  a  studied,  continuous  lie. 
—  flattering  streams :  streams  of  flattery. 

38.  copy.    "  Probably  for  '  copyhold,'  a  form  of  land  tenure  which 
differed  from  freehold  in  being  terminable." —  Herford. 

41.  cloister'd.    "  The  bats  wheeling  round  the   dim  cloisters   of 
Queen's  College,  Cambridge,  have  frequently  impressed  on  me  the 
singular  propriety  of  this  original  epithet."  —  Steevens. 

42.  shard-borne:  borne  through  the  air  on  scaly  wings.    Cf.  Antony 
and  Cleopatra,  III,  ii,  20  ;  Cymbeline,  III,  iii,  20.    Some  editors  follow 
the  spelling  of  the  later  Folios  and  interpret  as  '  born  in  refuse.' 

43.  yawning  :  drowsy.  —  peal.    The  curfew  bell  is  suggested. 
45.  chuck.    A  term  of  endearment.    Cf.  Othello,  III,  iv,  49. 


SCENE  II  MACBETH  79 

Till  thou  applaud  the  deed.    Come,  seeling  night,  46 

Scarf  up  the  tender  eye  of  pitiful  day, 

And  with  thy  bloody  and  invisible  hand 

Cancel  and  tear  to  pieces  that  great  bond 

Which  keeps  me  pale  !    Light  thickens,  and  the  crow        50 

Makes  wing  to  th'  rooky  wood  : 

Good  things  of  day  begin  to  droop  and  drowse, 

Whiles  night's  black  agents  to  their  preys  do  rouse. 

Thou  marvelPst  at  my  words,  but  hold  thee  still ; 

Things  bad  begun  make  strong  themselves  by  ill.  55 

So,  prithee,  go  with  me.  \_Exeunf\ 

50-51.  and  the  crow  .  .  .  wood  |  one  line  in  Ff. 

46.  seeling  night :  night  that  closes  up  the  eyes.  '  Seeling '  is  a 
term  of  falconry  often  used  figuratively  in  Elizabethan  literature. 
To  tame  hawks  their  eyelids  were  drawn  together  by  a  thread  of 
fine  silk.  Fr.  tiller  (siller),  Lat.  cilium. 

49.  that  great  bond.    Probably,  as  Mr.  E.  K.  Chambers  suggests, 
"  the  bond  between  destiny  and  the  house  of  Banquo,  made  known  in 
the  prophecy  of  the  weird  sisters." 

50.  Light  thickens.    Cf.  '  lustre  thickens'  in  Antony  and  Cleopatra, 
II,  iii,  27.    So  in  Spenser,  The  Shepheards  Calender,  March,  115-1 16: 

But  see,  the  Welkin  thicks  apace, 
And  stouping  Phebus  steepes  his  face. 

51.  rooky:  rook-haunted.    'Crow'  and  'rook'  were  used  of  the 
same  bird,  '  crow  '  being  generic  and  '  rook  '  specific.    "  The  passage 
simply  means, '  the  rook  hastens  its  evening  flight  to  the  wood  where 
its  fellows  are  already  assembled,'  and  to  our  mind  'the  rooky  wood  ' 
is  a  lively  and  natural  picture." —  Mitford  (quoted  by  Fumess).    But 
some  editors  interpret  'rooky'  as  'misty,'  'gloomy,'  connecting  it 
etymologically  with  Anglo-Saxon  rtc,  Dutch  rook,  German  Ranch, 
etc.    Cf.  Scottish  and  dialectic  'reek,'  as  in  Coriolanus,  III,  iii,  121. 

52.  "A  motto  of  the  entire  tragedy  ...    It  is  the  tragedy  of  the 
twilight  and  the  setting-in  of  thick  darkness."  —  Dowden. 

53-55.  A  covert  allusion  to  the  exploit  which  Macbeth's  murderers 
are  going  about.  He  seems  to  want  that  his  wife  should  suspect  the 


80  THE   NEW  HUDSON   SHAKESPEARE  ACT  m 

SCENE  III.   A  park  near  the  palace 
Enter  three  MURDERERS 

1  MURDERER.    But  who  did  bid  thee  join  with  us? 

3  MURDERER.  Macbeth. 

2  MURDERER.    He   needs   not   our   mistrust;    since   he 

delivers 

Our  offices,  and  what  we  have  to  do, 
To  the  direction  just. 

i  MURDERER.  Then  stand  with  us. 

The  west  yet  glimmers  with  some  streaks  of  day  :  5 

Now  spurs  the  lated  traveller  apace 
To  gain  the  timely  inn ;  and  near  approaches 
The  subject  of  our  watch. 

3  MURDERER.  Hark  !  I  hear  horses. 

SCENE  III  |  Scene  IV  Pope  |  Scene  II  Rowe.  —  A  park  .  .  .  |  Ff  omit. 

new  crime  he  has  in  hand,  while  he  shrinks  from  telling  her  of  it 
distinctly.  And  the  purpose  of  his  dark  hints  is  probably  to  prepare 
her,  as  far  as  may  be,  for  a  further  strain  upon  her  moral  forces, 
which  he  sees  to  be  already  overstrained.  For  he  fears  that,  if  she 
has  full  knowledge  beforehand  of  the  intended  murder,  she  may 
oppose  it,  and  that  if  she  has  no  suspicion  of  it  the  shock  may  be 
too  much  for  her. 

Enter  three  MURDERERS.  See  Furness  for  a  full  statement  of  the 
ingenious  theory  that  Macbeth  himself  is  the  Third  Murderer,  ad- 
vanced by  Mr.  A.  P.  Paton  (AfacbetA,  Hamnet  edition,  1877).  A  strong 
point  against  this  view  is  the  way  in  which  Macbeth  is  affected  on 
hearing  of  Fleance's  escape  (III,  iv,  21).  Mr.  Libby  holds  that  Ross 
is  the  Third  Murderer,  and  says  that  "  because  Shakespeare  is  deal- 
ing with  the  spy-system,  he  refuses  to  give  the  name  of  this  villain." 

2.  He  needs  not  our  mistrust :  we  need  not  mistrust  him. 

6.  lated:  belated.  Not  from  'belated,'  but  a  participial  adjective 
in  -ed  from  '  late.'  Cf.  Antony  and  Cleopatra,  III,  xi,  3. 


SCENE  in  MACBETH  3j 

BANQUO.    \Within\  Give  us  a  light  there,  ho  ! 

2  MURDERER.  Then  't  is  he  :  the  rest 
That  are  within  the  note  of  expectation  10 
Already  are  i'  the  court. 

1  MURDERER.  His  horses  go  about. 

3  MURDERER.   Almost  a  mile  :  but  he  does  usually. 
So  all  men  do,  from  hence  to  th'  palace  gate 

Make  it  their  walk. 

Enter  BANQUO,  and  FLEANCE  with  a  torch 

2  MURDERER.         A  light,  a  light ! 

3  MURDERER.  'T  is  he. 

i  MURDERER.   Stand  to 't.  1 5 

BANQUO.    It  will  be  rain  to-night. 

i  MURDERER.  Let  it  come  down. 

\_They  set  upon  BANQUO] 

BANQUO.    O,  treachery  !    Fly,  good  Fleance,  fly,  fly,  fly  ! 
Thou  mayst  revenge.    O  slave  !      \Dies.    FLEANCE  escapes'] 

16.  [They  set  -upon  .  .  .  |  Ff  omit.  18.  [Dies  .  . .  escapes]  Pope  |  Dies 

17.  0  ...  fly!  I  two  lines  in  Ff.         Rowe  |  Ff  omit. 

10.  note  of  expectation  :  list  of  those  guests  who  are  expected. 

17-18.  "  It  chanced  yet  by  the  benefit  of  the  darke  night,  that 
though  the  father  were  slaine,  the  sonne  yet  .  .  .  escaped  that  dan- 
ger: and  afterwards  hauing  some  inkeling  .  .  .  how  his  life  was 
sought  no  lesse  than  his  fathers,  who  was  slaine  not  by  chance- 
medlie  1  (as  by  the  handling  of  the  matter  Makbeth  would  have  had 
it  to  appeare)  but  euen  vpon  a  prepensed2  deuise:  wherevpon  to 
auoid  further  perill  he  fled  into  Wales." — Holinshed.  Doubtless 
Shakespeare  accepted  the  Stuart  tradition  that  Fleance  married  a 
daughter  of  the  Prince  of  Wales  and  had  a  son  who  afterwards 
became  Lord  High  Steward  of  Scotland ;  from  thence  he  assumed 
the  name  of  Walter  Steward  (Stuart).  "  From  him,  in  a  direct  line- 

1  accident.  2  premeditated. 


82          THE   NEW  HUDSON   SHAKESPEARE   ACT  m 

3  MURDERER.   Who  did  strike  out  the  light? 

1  MURDERER.  Was  't  not  the  way  ? 
3  MURDERER.   There's  but  one  down;  the  son  is  fled. 

2  MURDERER.  We  have  lost 
Best  half  of  our  affair.  z\ 

i  MURDERER.   Well,  let  's  away,  and  say  how  much   is 
done.  [JSxeunt~] 

SCENE  IV.    Hall  in  the  palace 

A  banquet  prepared.    Enter  MACBETH,  LADY  MACBETH, 
Ross,  LENNOX,  LORDS,  and  Attendants 

MACBETH.  You  know  your  own  degrees  ;  sit  down  :  at  first 
And  last  the  hearty  welcome. 

LORDS.  Thanks  to  your  majesty. 

MACBETH.    Ourself  will  mingle  with  society, 
And  play  the  humble  host. 

Our  hostess  keeps  her  state,  but  in  best  time  5 

We  will  require  her  welcome. 

LADY  MACBETH.    Pronounce   it  for  me,   sir,   to  all  our 

friends, 
For  my  heart  speaks  they  are  welcome. 

\_First  MURDERER  appears  at  the  door~\ 
MACBETH.    See,  they  encounter  thee  with  their  hearts' 
thanks. 


SCENE    IV  |  Scene     V     Pope  |  5.  best  Fi  |  the  best 

Scene  III  Rowe.  —  Hall  in  the  ...  I  9.  [First  MURDERER  .  .  .  |  Enter 

Ff  omit.  first  Murtherer  Ff. 

King  James  I  was  descended,  in  compliment  to  whom  our  author  has 
chosen  to  describe  Banquo,  who  was  equally  concerned  with  Macbeth 
in  the  murder  of  Duncan,  as  innocent  of  that  crime."  —  Malone. 
5.  keeps  her  state  :  remains  in  her  chair  of  state. 


SCENE  iv  MACBETH  83 

Both  sides  are  even  :  here  I  '11  sit  'i  the  midst.  10 

Be  large  in  mirth ;  anon  we  '11  drink  a  measure 
The  table  round.  —  [  Goes  to  the  door~\  There  's  blood  upon 
thy  face. 

MURDERER.    T  is  Banquo's  then. 

MACBETH.    'T  is  better  thee  without  than  he  within. 
Is  he  dispatch'd?  15 

MURDERER.   My  lord,  his  throat  is  cut ;  that  I  did  for  him. 

MACBETH.   Thou  art  the  best  o'  the  cut-throats;  yet  he's 

good 

That  did  the  like  for  Fleance  :  if  thou  didst  it, 
Thou  art  the  nonpareil. 

MURDERER.  Most  royal  sir, 

Fleance  is  scap'd.  20 

MACBETH.   Then  comes  my  fit  again  :  I  had  else  been 

perfect, 

Whole  as  the  marble,  founded  as  the  rock; 
As  broad  and  general  as  the  casing  air  : 
But  now  I  am  cabin'd,  cribb'd,  confin'd,  bound  in 
To  saucy  doubts  and  fears.    But  Banquo's  safe?  25 

MURDERER.   Ay,  my  good  lord ;  safe  in  a  ditch  he  bides, 
With  twenty  trenched  gashes  on  his  head, 
The  least  a  death  to  nature. 

MACBETH.  Thanks  for  that. 

There  the  grown  serpent  lies ;  the  worm  that 's  fled 

ia.  [Goes  .  .  .  |  Approaching  the       Ff  lines  end  cut-throats,  Fleance, 
door  Grant  White  Globe  I  Ff  omit.          nonpareil. 

17-19.  Thou   .   .    .   nonpareil  |  in  21.  Two  lines  in  Ff. 

14.  It  is  better  on  your  face  than  in  his  veins. 

19.  nonpareil :  one  who  has  no  equal.    Cf.  Twelfth  Night,  I,  v,  273. 

23.   Having  as  full  and  free  scope  as  the  enveloping  air. 

29.  worm  :  serpent.    Cf.  A  Midsummer  Nighfs  Dream,  III,  ii,  71. 


84         THE   NEW  HUDSON  SHAKESPEARE   ACT  m 

Hath  nature  that  in  time  will  venom  breed,  30 

No  teeth  for  th'  present.   Get  thee  gone :  to-morrow 

We  '11  hear 't,  ourself,  again.  \_Exit  MURDERER] 

LADY  MACBETH.  My  royal  lord, 

You  do  not  give  the  cheer  :  the  feast  is  sold 
That  is  not  often  vouch'd,  while  't  is  a-making, 
'Tis  given  with  welcome  :   to  feed  were  best  at  home;       35 
From  thence  the  sauce  to  meat  is  ceremony ; 
Meeting  were  bare  without  it. 

Enter  the  Ghost  <?/BANQUO,  and  sits  in  MACBETH'S //#<:<? 

MACBETH.  Sweet  remembrancer  ! 

Now,  good  digestion  wait  on  appetite, 
And  health  on  both  ! 

LENNOX.  May  't  please  your  highness  sit. 

MACBETH.  Here  had  we  now  our  country's  honour  roof  d, 
Were  the  grac'd  person  of  our  Banquo  present;  41 

Who  may  I  rather  challenge  for  unkindness 
Than  pity  for  mischance. 

Ross.  His  absence,  sir, 

Lays  blame  upon  his  promise.    Please  't  your  highness 
To  grace  us  with  your  royal  company.  45 

MACBETH.    The  table  's  full ! 

LENNOX  Here  is  a  place  reserv'd,  sir. 

33-37.  The  feast  is  made  or  given  for  profit,  not  as  a  frank  expres- 
sion of  kindness  and  good-will,  if,  during  its  course,  it  is  not  often 
declared  to  be  given  with  pleasure.  If  merely  to  feed  were  all,  that 
were  best  done  at  home. 

37.  Enter  the  Ghost  .  .  .  This  is  the  stage  direction  of  the  Folios. 
Modern  edkors  place  the  entry  of  the  Ghost  after  line  39,  and  dis- 
cuss the  question  whether,  upon  the  stage,  the  Ghost  should  ob- 
jectively appear.  See  note,  line  89. 


SCENE  iv  MACBETH  85 

MACBETH.   Where? 

LENNOX.    Here,  my  good  lord.    What  is  't  that  moves 
your  highness? 

MACBETH.    Which  of  you  have  done  this? 

LORDS.  What,  my  good  lord? 

MACBETH.    Thou  canst  not  say  I  did  it :  never  shake    50 
Thy  gory  locks  at  me. 

Ross.   Gentlemen,  rise ;  his  highness  is  not  well. 

LADY  MACBETH.   Sit,  worthy  friends :   my  lord  is  often 

thus, 

And  hath  been  from  his  youth :  pray  you,  keep  seat ; 
The  fit  is  momentary ;  upon  a  thought  55 

He  will  again  be  well :  if  much  you  note  him, 
You  shall  offend  him,  and  extend  his  passion : 
Feed,  and  regard  him  not.    \_Aside  to  MACBETH]  Are  you  a 
man? 

MACBETH.   Ay,  and  a  bold  one,  that  dare  look  on  that 
Which  might  appal  the  devil. 

LADY  MACBETH.   \_Aside  to  MACBETH]  O  proper  stuff !  60 
This  is  the  very  painting  of  your  fear  : 
This  is  the  air-drawn  dagger  which,  you  said, 
Led  you  to  Duncan.   O,  these  flaws  and  starts, 
Impostors  to  true  fear,  would  well  become 
A  woman's  story  at  a  winter's  fire,  65 

Authoriz'd  by  her  grandam.    Shame  itself  ! 

48.  Two  lines  in  Ff.  58,  60.  [Aside  .  .  .  |  Ff  omit. 

57.  shall:  will.  —  extend  his  passion:  increase  his  agitation. 

63.  flaws:  bursts  of  passion.   Originally, 'gusts  of  wind.'  Cf.  Cori- 
olanus,  V,  iii,  74.    See  Murray. 

64.  to :  compared  with.   A  common  use.   Cf.  Hamlet,  I,  ii,  130-140. 

65.  Cf.  Richard  77,  V,  i,  40-43  ;    The  Winter's  Tale,  II,  i,  25-26. 


86          THE   NEW  HUDSON   SHAKESPEARE   ACT  HI 

Why  do  you  make  such  faces?   When  all 's  done, 
You  look  but  on  a  stool. 

MACBETH.    Prithee,  see  there  !   behold  !   look  !  lo  !  how 

say  you? 

Why,  what  care  I  ?    If  thou  canst  nod,  speak  too.  70 

If  charnel-houses  and  our  graves  must  send 
Those  that  we  bury  back,  our  monuments 
Shall  be  the  maws  of  kites.  [Ghost  vanishes^ 

LADY  MACBETH.    [Aside  to  MACBETH]  What,  quite  un- 
mann'd  in  folly? 

MACBETH.    If  I  stand  here,  I  saw  him  ! 

LADY  MACBETH.      [Aside  to  MACBETH]  Fie,  for  shame  ! 

MACBETH.    Blood  hath  been  shed  ere  now,  i'  the  olden 
time,  75 

Ere  humane  statute  purg'd  the  gentle  weal ; 
Ay,  and  since  too,  murders  have  been  perform'd 
Too  terrible  for  the  ear.    The  time  has  been, 
That,  when  the  brains  were  out,  the  man  would  die, 
And  there  an  end;  but  now  they  rise  again,  80 

With  twenty  mortal  murders  on  their  crowns, 
And  push  us  from  our  stools  :  this  is  more  strange 
Than  such  a  murder  is. 

LADY  MACBETH.  My  worthy  lord, 

Your  noble  friends  do  lack  you. 

69.  Two  lines  in  Ff.  73,  74.  [Aside  .  .  .  \  Ff  omit. 

73.  [Ghost...]     Rowe|  Ex  it  78.  time    has    Camb  I  times    has 

Ghost  F2FaF4  I  FI  omits.  FI  |  times  have  F2F8F4. 

72-73.  monuments :  tombs.  —  maws  :  stomachs.  Cf.  The  Faerie 
Queene,  II,  viii,  17 :  "  But  be  entombed  in  the  raven  or  the  kight." 

76.  Ere  humane  statute  made  the  commonwealth  gentle  by  purg- 
ing and  cleansing  it  from  the  wrongs  and  pollutions  of  barbarism, 
'Gentle'  is  here  used  prolsptically. 


SCENE  iv  MACBETH  87 

MACBETH.  I  do  forget. 

Do  not  muse  at  me,  my  most  worthy  friends;  85 

I  have  a  strange  infirmity,  which  is  nothing 
To  those  that  know  me.    Come,  love  and  health  to  all ; 
Then  I  '11  sit  down.    Give  me  some  wine,  fill  full. 

Re-enter  the  Ghost 

I  drink  to  th'  general  joy  o'  the  whole  table, 

And  to  our  dear  friend  Banquo,  whom  we  miss;  90 

Would  he  were  here  !  to  all  and  him  we  thirst, 

And  all  to  all. 

LORDS.  Our  duties,  and  the  pledge. 

MACBETH.    Avaunt !   and   quit  my  sight  !   let  the  earth 

hide  thee  ! 
Thy  bones  are  marrowless,  thy  blood  is  cold ; 

89.  Re-enter  .  .  .  \  Enter  Ghost  Ff. 

85.  muse:  wonder.    See  Skeat.    Cf.  King  John,  III,  i,  317. 

89.  Re-enter  the  Ghost.  Much  question  has  been  made,  whether 
there  be  not  two  several  ghosts  in  this  scene  ;  some  maintaining  that 
Duncan's  enters  here,  and  Banquo's  before ;  others,  that  Banquo's 
enters  here,  and  Duncan's  before.  The  question  is  best  disposed  of 
by  referring  to  Forman  (Diary,  see  Introduction),  who,  as  he  speaks 
of  Banquo's  ghost,  would  doubtless  have  spoken  of  Duncan's,  had 
there  been  any  such  : 

Next  night,  beinge  at  supper  with  his  noble  men  whom  he  had  bid  to  a 
feaste  to  the  which  also  Banco  should  have  com,  he  began  to  speak  of  Noble 
Banco,  and  to  wish  that  he  wer  ther.  And  as  he  thus  did,  standing  up  to 
drincke  a  Carouse  to  him,  the  ghoste  of  Banco  came  and  sat  down  in  his 
cheier  be-hind  him.  And  he  turning  A-bout  to  sit  down  Again  sawe  the 
goste  of  banco,  which  fronted  him  so,  that  he  fell  in-to  a  great  passion  of 
fear  and  fury. 

92.  all  to  all:  pledge  all  good  wishes  to  all.  An  appropriate  ges- 
ture would  bring  out  the  full  meaning  here. 


88         THE   NEW  HUDSON  SHAKESPEARE   ACT  m 

Thou  hast  no  speculation  in  those  eyes  95 

Which  thou  dost  glare  with  ! 

LADY  MACBETH.  Think  of  this,  good  peers, 

But  as  a  thing  of  custom  :   't  is  no  other ; 
Only  it  spoils  the  pleasure  of  the  time. 

MACBETH.   What  man  dare,  I  dare  : 

Approach  thou  like  the  rugged  Russian  bear,  100 

The  arm'd  rhinoceros,  or  the  Hyrcan  tiger; 
Take  any  shape  but  that,  and  my  firm  nerves 
Shall  never  tremble  :  or  be  alive  again, 
And  dare  me  to  the  desert  with  thy  sword ; 
If  trembling  I  inhabit  then,  protest  me  105 

The  baby  of  a  girl.    Hence,  horrible  shadow  ! 
Unreal  mockery,  hence  !  [Ghost  vanishes'] 

Why,  so  :  being  gone, 
I  am  a  man  again.    Pray  you,  sit  still. 

LADY  MACBETH.  You  have  displac'd  the  mirth,  broke  the 

good  meeting, 
With  most  admir'd  disorder. 

101.  the  Hyrcan  |  th'HircanFiF-2.  107.  [Ghost...   (   Exit     F-2Fj)F4 

105.  inhabit    then    Fi  |  inhabit,  after  shadow   |   FI   omits.  —  being 

then    F2FaF4  |  inhibit,   then    Pope  |  gone  FiFa  I  be  gone  FaF4- 
inhibit  thee  Malone  |  inhabit  there  109-110.  broke  .  .  .  disorder  I  one 

Delius  conj.  line  in  Ff. 

95.  speculation:  power  of  vision.    Cf.  Othello,  I,  iii,  271. 

101.  arm'd:  armoured  with  his  thick  hide.  —  Hyrcan:  Hyrcanian. 
Cf.  The  Merchant  of  Venice,  II,  vii,  41  ;  Hamlet,  II,  ii,  472. 

104-106.  "  Dare  me  to  the  desert  with  thy  sword;  if  then  I  do  not 
meet  thee  there  ;  if  trembling  I  stay  in  my  castle,  or  any  habitation  ; 
if  I  then  hide  my  head,  or  dwell  in  any  place  through  fear,  protest 
me  the  baby  of  a  girl." — Home  Tooke.  Milton  uses  'inhabit'  in 
a  similar  sense,  Paradise  Lost,  VII,  162  :  "  Meanwhile  inhabit  lax,  ye 
powers  of  heaven."  Some  editors  take  'inhabit'  in  the  sense  of  'put 
on  as  a  garment'  (cf.  Psalms,  xxii,  3).  —  protest  me  :  declare  me  to 


SCENE  iv  MACBETH  89 

MACBETH.  Can  such  things  be,  1 10 

And  overcome  us  like  a  summer's  cloud, 
Without  our  special  wonder?   You  make  me  strange 
Even  to  the  disposition  that  I  owe, 
When  now  I  think  you  can  behold  such  sights, 
And  keep  the  natural  ruby  of  your  cheeks,  115 

When  mine  is  blanch'd  with  fear. 

Ross.  What  sights,  my  lord  ? 

LADY  MACBETH.    I  pray  you,  speak  not ;  he  grows  worse 

and  worse ; 

Question  enrages  him.    At  once,  good  night : 
Stand  not  upon  the  order  of  your  going, 
But  go  at  once. 

LENNOX.          Good  night;  and  better  health  120 

Attend  his  majesty  ! 

LADY  MACBETH.      A  kind  good  night  to  all ! 

[Exeunt  all  but  MACBETH  and  LADY  MACBETH] 

MACBETH.    It  will  have  blood;  they  say  blood  will  have 

blood  : 
Stones  have  been  known  to  move  and  trees  to  speak ; 

114.  When  now  Ff  |  Now  when  MX.  [Exeunt .  .  .  ]    Dyce  I  Exit 

Hanmer.  Lords  Ff. 

116.  sights    Fi  |  signes    FaFs  I  xaa.  Two  lines  in  Ff. 

signs  F<. 

be.  —  baby  of  a  girl.  'Puny  offspring' and 'doll'  have  been  suggested 
as  the  meaning  here.  Perhaps  the  expression  simply  means  'babyish 
girl.'  Cf.  'wonder  of  a  man'  for  'wonderful  man.' 

in.  Pass  over  us  as  a  casual  summer  cloud,  unregarded. 

113.  disposition  that  I  owe  :  the  bent  of  character  I  possess.  'Dis- 
position' is  used  by  Shakespeare  "not  only  in  its  modern  sense  of 
settled  character,  ^0os,  but  also  in  the  sense  of  temporary  mood,  and 
in  this  latter  sense  we  think  it  is  used  here."  —  Clar. 

119.  Stay  not  to  go  out  according  to  order  of  precedence. 


90          THE   NEW  HUDSON   SHAKESPEARE    ACT  m 

Augures  and  understood  relations  have 

By  magot-pies  and  choughs  and  rooks  brought  forth         125 

The  secret'st  man  of  blood.    What  is  the  night? 

LADY  MACBETH.   Almost  at  odds  with  morning,  which  is 
which. 

MACBETH.    How   say'st    thou,   that   Macduff  denies   his 

person 
At  our  great  bidding? 

LADY  MACBETH.         Did  you  send  to  him,  sir? 

MACBETH.    I  hear  it  by  the  way,  but  I  will  send  :          130 
There  's  not  a  one  of  them  but  in  his  house 
I  keep  a  servant  fee'd.    I  will  to-morrow, 
And  betimes  I  will,  to  the  weird  sisters  : 
More  shall  they  speak ;  for  now  I  am  bent  to  know, 
By  the  worst  means,  the  worst.    For  mine  own  good         135 
All  causes  shall  give  way  :   I  am  in  blood 
Stepp'd  in  so  far  that,  should  I  wade  no  more, 
Returning  were  as  tedious  as  go  o'er  : 

124.  Augures    Ff  1  Augurs    Theo-  133.  weird  Theobald  |  weyard  Fi 

bald.  I  wizard  FsFaF-i. 

124.  Augures:  auguries,  divinations.  —  understood  relations  :  knowl- 
edge by  the  initiated  of  the  secret  relation  between  things  and  incidents. 

125.  magot-pies:  magpies.  —  choughs.    Cf.  A'ing  Lear,  IV,  vi,  13. 
129.  By  'our  great  bidding'  is  meant,  not  any  particular  request 

or  order  to  Macduff,  but  the  general  invitation  implied  in  the  very 
purpose  of  the  banquet.  Macbeth  has  heard  of  his  refusal  only  '  by 
the  way,'  that  is,  incidentally,  or  through  a  'servant  fee'd.' 

131-132.  lie  has  paid  spies  lurking  and  prowling  about  in  the  fami- 
lies of  all  the  noblemen,  and  using  the  advantage  of  their  place  as 
servants  to  get  information  for  him.  The  meanest  and  hatefullest 
practice  of  a  jealous  tyrant !  "  Makbeth  had  in  euery  noble  man's 
house  one  slie  fellow  or  other  in  fee  with  him,  to  reueale  all  that  was 
said  or  doone  within  the  same." —  Holinshed. 


SCENE  v  MACBETH  91 

Strange  things  I  have  in  head  that  will  to  hand, 

Which  must  be  acted  ere  they  may  be  scann'd.  140 

LADY  MACBETH.  You  lack  the  season  of  all  natures,  sleep. 

MACBETH.    Come,  we  '11  to  sleep.    My  strange  and  self- 
abuse 

Is  the  initiate  fear  that  wants  hard  use  : 
We  are  yet  but  young  in  deed.  [Exeunt~\ 

SCENE  V.    A  heath 
Thunder.    Enter  the  three  WITCHES,  meeting  HECATE 

i  WITCH.   Why,  how  now,  Hecate  !  you  look  angerly. 

HECATE.     Have  I  not  reason,  beldams  as  you  are, 
Saucy  and  overbold?    How  did  you  dare 
To  trade  and  traffic  with  Macbeth 
In  riddles  and  affairs  of  death ;  5 

And  I,  the  mistress  of  your  charms, 
The  close  contriver  of  all  harms, 
Was  never  call'd  to  bear  my  part, 
Or  show  the  glory  of  our  art? 
And,  which  is  worse,  all  you  have  done          10 

144.  in    deed    Theobald  |  indeed  SCENE    V  I  Scene    VI    Pope  | 

Ff  |  in  deeds  Hanmer.  Scene  IV  Rowe. — A  heath  \  Ff  omit. 

141.  the  season :  seasoning,  that  which  preserves  from  decay. 

142-143.  self-abuse  Is  the  initiate  fear :  self-delusion  is  the  fear  of 
the  novice.  Macbeth  now  knows  that  the  Banquo  he  has  just  seen 
was  but  a  Banquo  of  the  mind. 

SCENE  V.  This  scene  is  usually  regarded  as  an  interpolation,  its 
witches  being  unlike  those  of  the  earlier  scenes,  and  their  relation  to 
Macbeth  being  different  from  what  it  was  before. 

i.  angerly.    "  The  '  -ly '  represents  '  like.'  "  —  Abbott,  §  447. 

7.  close  contriver:  secret  plotter.    'Close'  often  has  this  sense. 


92          THE   NEW  HUDSON   SHAKESPEARE  ACT  m 

Hath  been  but  for  a  wayward  son, 

Spiteful  and  wrathful ;  who,  as  others  do, 

Loves  for  his  own  ends,  not  for  you. 

But  make  amends  now  :  get  you  gone, 

And  at  the  pit  of  Acheron  15 

Meet  me  i'  the  morning  :  thither  he 

Will  come  to  know  his  destiny  : 

/our  vessels  and  your  spells  provide, 

Your  charms,  and  every  thing  beside. 

I  am  for  th'  air ;  this  night  I  '11  spend  20 

Unto  a  dismal  and  a  fatal  end  : 

Great  business  must  be  wrought  ere  noon  : 

Upon  the  corner  of  the  moon 

There  hangs  a  vaporous  drop  profound ; 

I  '11  catch  it  ere  it  come  to  ground  :  25 

And  that  distill'd  by  magic  sleights 

Shall  raise  such  artificial  sprites 

As  by  the  strength  of  their  illusion 

Shall  draw  him  on  to  his  confusion  : 

He  shall  spurn  fate,  scorn  death,  and  bear        30 

His  hopes  'bove  wisdom,  grace,  and  fear; 

And  you  all  know  security 

Is  mortals'  chiefest  enemy. 

\_Music,  and  a  Song\ 

26.  sleights  |  slights  Ff.  27.  raise  FI  |  rise  Fa. 

24.  vaporous  drop.  "  The  virus  lunar e  of  the  ancients,  a  foarn 
which  the  moon  was  supposed  to  shed,  when  strongly  solicited  by 
enchantment." — Steevens.  —  profound:  having  magic  qualities. 

32.  security:  over-confidence,  presumption,  carelessness.  Of  ten  so. 

33,  35.  These  are  the  stage  directions  of  the  Folios.    The  song  re- 
ferred to  is  found  in  Middleton's  The  Witch,  III,  iii,  and,  with  some 


SCENE  vi  MACBETH  93 

Hark  !  I  am  call'd ;  my  little  spirit,  see, 

Sits  in  a  foggy  cloud,  and  stays  for  me.    [Exit] 

[Sing  within  :  '  Come  away,  come  away,'  etc.] 

i  WITCH.    Come,  let 's  make  haste ;  she  '11  soon  be  back 

again.  \_Exeunt\ 

SCENE  VI.   Forres.    The  palace 
Enter  LENNOX  and  another  LORD 

LENNOX.   My  former  speeches  have  but  hit  your  thoughts. 
Which  can  interpret  farther  :  only,  I  say 
Things  have  been  strangely  borne.   The  gracious  Duncan 

36.  Two  lines  in  Ff.  omit.  —  The  palace  Camb  I  Ff  omit. 

SCENE   VI  |  Scene   VII    Pope  I  i.  Two  lines  in  Ff. 

Scene  V  Rowe.— For  res  Capell  |  Ff  3.  borne  FiFaFs  I  born  F4. 

changes,  in  the  D'Avenant  Quarto  of  Macbeth.    Here  is  the  wholt 
song,  or  musical  dialogue,  as  it  is  in  The  Witch  : 

Song  above. 

Come  away,  come  away, 

Hecate,  Hecate,  come  away ! 
Hecate.  I  come,  I  come,  I  come,  I  come, 

With  all  the  speed  I  may, 

With  all  the  speed  I  may. 

Where 's  Stadlin  ? 
Voice  above.     Here. 
Hecate.  Where's  Puckle ? 

Voice  above.     Here ; 

And  Hoppo  too,  and  Hellwain  too; 

We  lack  but  you,  we  lack  but  you : 

Come  away,  make  up  the  count. 
Hecate.  I  will  but  "noint,  and  then  I  mount. 

[.-/  Spirit  like  a  cat  descend s^ 
Voice  above.     There 's  one  come's  down  to  fetch  his  dues, 

A  kiss,  a  coll,  a  sip  of  blood  ; 

And  why  thou  stay'st  so  long, 
I  muse,  I  muse, 

Since  the  air 's  so  sweet  and  good. 


94         THE  NEW  HUDSON   SHAKESPEARE    ACT  in 

Was  pitied  of  Macbeth  :   marry,  he  was  dead  : 

And  the  right-valiant  Banquo  walk'd  too  late ;  5 

Whom,  you  may  say,  if  't  please  you,  Fleance  kill'd, 

For  Fleance  fled  :  men  must  not  walk  too  late. 

Who  cannot  want  the  thought,  how  monstrous 

It  was  for  Malcolm  and  for  Donalbain 

To  kill  their  gracious  father?  damned  fact !  10 

How  it  did  grieve  Macbeth  !  did  he  not  straight, 

In  pious  rage,  the  two  delinquents  tear, 

That  were  the  slaves  of  drink  and  thralls  of  sleep? 

Was  not  that  nobly  done  ?   Ay,  and  wisely  too ; 

For  'twould  have  anger'd  any  heart  alive  15 

To  hear  the  men  deny  't.    So  that,  I  say, 

Hecate.  O,  art  thou  come  ? 

What  news,  what  news  ? 
Spirit.  All  goes  still  to  our  delight : 

Either  come,  or  else 

Refuse,  refuse. 

Hecate.  Now  I  'm  furnish'd  for  the  flight. 

Fire.  Hark,  hark !   the  cat  sings  a  brave  treble  in  her  own  language. 

Hecate,    \_going  up\  Now  I  go,  now  I  fly, 

Malkin  my  sweet  spirit  and  I. 

O  what  a  dainty  pleasure  't  is 

To  ride  in  the  air 

When  the  moon  shines  fair, 

And  sing  and  dance,  and  toy  and  kiss ! 

Over  woods,  high  rocks,  and  mountains, 

Over  seas,  our  mistress'  fountains, 

Over  steep  towers,  and  turrets, 

We  fly  by  night,  'mongst  troops  of  spirits : 

No  ring  of  bells  to  our  ears  sounds, 

No  howls  of  wolves,  no  yelps  of  hounds ; 

No,  not  the  noise  of  water's  breach, 

Or  cannon's  throat  our  height  can  reach. 
Voices  above.    No  ring  of  bells,  etc. 

8.  Who  cannot  want  the  thought:  who  can  fail  to  think. 

TO.  In  Elizabethan  English  '  fact '  usually  means  an  '  evil  deed.' 


SCENE  vi  MACBETH  95 

He  has  borne  all  things  well :  and  I  do  think 

That,  had  he  Duncan's  sons  under  his  key  — 

As,  and  't  please  heaven,  he  shall  not  —  they  should  find 

What  't  were  to  kill  a  father ;  so  should  Fleance.  20 

But,  peace  !  for  from  broad  words,  and  'cause  he  fail'd 

His  presence  at  the  tyrant's  feast,  I  hear, 

Macduff  lives  in  disgrace.    Sir,  can  you  tell 

Where  he  bestows  himself? 

LORD.  The  son  of  Duncan, 

From  whom  this  tyrant  holds  the  due  of  birth,  25 

Lives  in  the  English  court ;  and  is  receiv'd 
Of  the  most  pious  Edward  with  such  grace 
That  the  malevolence  of  fortune  nothing 
Takes  from  his  high  respect.    Thither  Macduff 
Is  gone  to  pray  the  holy  king,  upon  his  aid  30 

To  wake  Northumberland  and  warlike  Siward ; 
That  by  the  help  of  these,  with  Him  above 
To  ratify  the  work,  we  may  again 
Give  to  our  tables  meat,  sleep  to  our  nights; 
Free  from  our  feasts  and  banquets  bloody  knives,  35 

Do  faithful  homage  and  receive  free  honours; 
All  which  we  pine  for  now :  and  this  report 
Hath  so  exasperate  the  king,  that  he 
Prepares  for  some  attempt  of  war. 

LENNOX.  Sent  he  to  Macduff? 


24.  son  Theobald  |  Sonnes  FI  38.  exasperate  Ff  |  exasperated  Rowe, 

Sons  F4.  —  the  king  Hanmer  |  their  king  Ff. 


19.  and  't  :  if  it.   'And,'  meaning  'if,'  is  now  usually  spelled  'an.' 
21.  from  broad  words  :  on  account  of  free  outspoken  words. 
38.  exasperate:  exasperated.   So  'articulate'  in  /  Henry  IV,  V,  i, 
72.    See  Abbott,  §  342. 


96          THE   NEW  HUDSON   SHAKESPEARE  ACT  m 

LORD.    He  did  :  and  with  an  absolute  '  Sir,  not  I,'         40 
The  cloudy  messenger  turns  me  his  back, 
And  hums,  as  who  should  say,  '  You  '11  rue  the  time 
That  clogs  me  with  this  answer.' 

LENNOX.  And  that  well  might 

Advise  him  to  a  caution,  to  hold  what  distance 
His  wisdom  can  provide.    Some  holy  angel  45 

Fly  to  the  court  of  England  and  unfold 
His  message  ere  he  come ;  that  a  swift  blessing 
May  soon  return  to  this  our  suffering  country 
Under  a  hand  accurs'd  ! 

LORD.  I  '11  send  my  prayers  with  him. 

[Exeunt] 

41.  cloudy :  frowning.   'Foreboding,  ominous.' — Delias. — me.  The 
ethical  dative;  often  used  for  emphasis.    Cf. Julius  Ctzsar,  I,  ii,  267. 

42.  as  who :  like  one  who.    Cf.  The  Merchant  of  Venice,  I,  i,  93. 

43.  It  appears,  at  the  close  of  the  third  scene  of  this  act,  that 
Macbeth  did  not  give  Macduff  a  special  and  direct  invitation  to  the 
banquet ;  but  his  attendance  was  expected  as  a  matter  of  course ; 
and  his  failure  to  attend  made  him  an  object  of  distrust  and  suspi- 
cion to  the  tyrant.    We  are  to  suppose  that  Macbeth  learned,  from 
the  paid  spy  and  informer  whom  he  kept  in  Macduff's  house,  that 
the  latter  had  declared  he  would  not  go  to  the  feast.    So  that  the 
messenger  here  spoken  of  was  probably  not  sent  to  invite  Macduff, 
but  to  call  him  to  account  for  his  non-attendance. 

48-49.   The  order  is,  "  our  country  suffering  under  a  hand  accurs'd." 


ACT  IV 

SCENE  I.  A  cavern.   In  the  middle,  a  boiling  cauldron 

Thunder.    Enter  the  three  WITCHES 

1  WITCH.  Thrice  the  brinded  cat  hath  mew'd. 

2  WITCH.  Thrice,  and  once  the  hedge-pig  whin'd. 

3  WITCH.  Harpier  cries ;   't  is  time,  't  is  time. 
i  WITCH.  Round  about  the  cauldron  go; 

In  the  poison 'd  entrails  throw.  5 

Toad,  that  under  cold  stone 
Days  and  nights  has  thirty-one 
Swelter'd  venom  sleeping  got, 
Boil  thou  first  i'  the  charmed  pot. 

ACT   IV  |  Actus  Quartus  FI  |  A  cavern.  In  the  middle  .  .  .  |  Ff 

Actus  Quintus  F2FsF4.  omit. 

1.  brinded :  brindled.'dark  brown  streaked  with  black.   See  Murray. 

2.  The  Folio  punctuation  adopted  in  the  text  is  faithful  to  the 
tradition  that  only  odd  numbers  are  magical.    'Thrice '  has  reference 
probably  to  the  mewing  of  the  '  brinded  cat ';  the  '  hedge-pig '  ('  hedge- 
hog') whining  but  once.    Or  'thrice  and  once'  maybe  put  for  'four' 
to  avoid  the  calling  of  unlucky  even  numbers. 

3.  Harpier.    The  name  of  one  of  the  familiars.    See  note,  I,  i,  8. 
Steevens  suggested  that  the  word  is  a  misprint  for  '  harpy.'   Harpier's 
cry  is  the  signal,  showing  that  it  is  time  to  begin  the  mystic  rites. 

6.  cold.    To  be  so  prolonged  as  to  have  the  time  of  two  syllables. 

8.  Swelter'd:  sweated,  exuded. — venom.  "All  manner  of  Toads, 
both  of  the  earth  and  of  the  water,  are  venomous." — Topsell,  History 
of  Serpents,  1608.  Cf.  As  You  Like  //,  II,  i,  13. 

97 


98 


THE   NEW  HUDSON    SHAKESPEARE    ACT  iv 


ALL.  Double,  double  toil  and  trouble ;  10 

Fire  burn  and  cauldron  bubble. 

2  WITCH.    Fillet  of  a  fenny  snake, 

In  the  cauldron  boil  and  bake ; 
Eye  of  newt  and  toe  of  frog, 
Wool  of  bat  and  tongue  of  dog,  15 

Adder's  fork  and  blind-worm's  sting, 
Lizard's  leg  and  howlet's  wing, 
For  a  charm  of  powerful  trouble, 
Like  a  hell-broth  boil  and  bubble. 

ALL.  Double,  double  toil  and  trouble ;  20 

Fire  burn  and  cauldron  bubble. 

3  WITCH.   Scale  of  dragon,  tooth  of  wolf, 

Witches'  mummy,  maw  and  gulf 

Of  the  ravin'd  salt-sea  shark; 

Root  of  hemlock  digg'd  i'  the  dark,  25 

Liver  of  blaspheming  Jew, 

Gall  of  goat,  and  slips  of  yew 

16.  fork  :  forked  tongue.  —  blind-worm's  sting.  The  harmless  slow- 
worm  was  regarded  of  old  as  poisonous.  It  is  called  "  eyeless  venom'd 
worm"  in  Timon  of  Athens,  IV,  iii,  182.  Cf.  A  Midsummer  Nighfs 
Dream,  II,  ii,  9-12  : 

You  spotted  snakes  with  double  tongue, 

Thorny  hedgehogs,  be  not  seen  ; 
Newts  and  blind-worms,  do  no  wrong, 
Come  not  near  our  fairy  queen. 

23.  Mummy  was  much  used  as  medicine ;  a  '  witch's,'  of  course, 
had  evil  magic  in  it.    "  The  Egyptian  mummies,  which  Cambyses  or 
time  hath  spared,  avarice  now  consumeth.    Mummie  is  become  mer- 
chandise, Mizraim  cures  wounds,  and  Pharaoh  is  sold  for  balsams." 
—  Sir  Thomas  Browne,  On  Urn-burial.  —  gulf :  that  which  swallows 
up  anything.   Cf.  The  Shepheards  Calender,  September,  185-186:  "A 
wicked  wolfe  that  with  many  a  Lambe  had  glutted  his  gulfe." 

24.  ravin'd.    Either  '  ravenous  '  or  '  glutted  with  prey.' 


SCENE  j  MACBETH  99 

Sliver 'd  in  the  moon's  eclipse, 

Nose  of  Turk  and  Tartar's  lips, 

Finger  of  birth-strangled  babe  30 

Ditch-deliver'd  by  a  drab, 

Make  the  gruel  thick  and  slab  : 

Add  thereto  a  tiger's  chaudron, 

For  th'  ingredients  of  our  cauldron. 

ALL.  Double,  double  toil  and  trouble ;  35 

Fire  burn  and  cauldron  bubble. 

2  WITCH.    Cool  it  with  a  baboon's  blood, 

Then  the  charm  is  firm  and  good. 

Enter  HECATE  to  the  other  three  WITCHES 

HECATE.     O,  well  done  !    I  commend  your  pains; 

And  every  one  shall  share  i'  th1  gains  :  40 

And  now  about  the  cauldron  sing, 
Like  elves  and  fairies  in  a  ring, 
Enchanting  all  that  you  put  in. 

[Music,  and  a  Song,  '  Black  spirits,'  etc.~\ 
[Exit  HECATE] 

39.  Enter  HECATE  to...  Globe  43.  [Exit  HECATE]   Dyce  |  Hec- 

Can>b  |  Enter  Hecat,  and  .  .  .  Ff.  ate  retires  Globe  Camb  |  Ff  omit. 

28.  A  lunar  eclipse  was  held  to  be  fraught  with  evil  magic  of  the 
highest  intensity.    Cf.  Paradise  Lost,  I,  597-598. 

32.  slab :  viscous,  slimy.    Connected  etymologically  with  Gaelic 
slaib,  'mud.'    Cf.  'slobbery'  in  Henry  V,  III,  v,  13. 

33.  chaudron:  entrails,  especially  as  used  for  food.    See  Murray. 
43.  Music,  and  a  Song.   Here  is  the  'Song 'as  in  Middleton's  Tht 

Witch,  V,  ii,  68-77  : 

Black  spirits  and  white,  red  spirits  and  gray, 
Mingle,  mingle,  mingle,  you  that  mingle  may  I 

Titty,  Tiffin, 

Keep  it  stiff  in ; 


tOO        THE   NEW  HUDSON   SHAKESPEARE    ACT  IV 

2  WITCH.    By  the  pricking  of  my  thumbs, 

Something  wicked  this  way  comes  :  45 

Open,  locks, 
Whoever  knocks  ! 

Enter  MACBETH 

MACBETH.    How  now,  you  secret,  black,  and   midnight 

hags  ! 
What  is  't  you  do  ? 

ALL.  A  deed  without  a  name. 

MACBETH.    I  conjure  you,  by  that  which  you  profess,    50 
Howe'er  you  come  to  know  it,  answer  me  : 
Though  you  untie  the  winds  and  let  them  fight 
Against  the  churches ;  though  the  yesty  waves 
Confound  and  swallow  navigation  up ; 

Though  bladed  corn  be  lodg'd,  and  trees  blown  down ;      55 
Though  castles  topple  on  their  warders'  heads ; 
Though  palaces  and  pyramids  do  slope 

46-47.  One  line  in  Ff.  48.  Scene  II  Pope. 

Firedrake,  Puckey, 

Make  it  lucky ; 

Liard,  Robin, 

You  must  bob  in. 

Round,  around,  around,  about,  about ! 
All  ill  come  running  in,  all  good  keep  outv. 

This  is  substantially  as  it  is  in  the  D'Avenant  Quarto  of  Macbeth. 
44.  "  It  is  a  very  ancient  superstition  that  all  sudden  pains  of  the 

body  which  could  not  naturally  be  accounted  for  were  presages  of 

somewhat  that  was  shortly  to  happen."  —  Steevens. 

53  yesty :  frothy,  foamy.    It  is  a  variant  form  of  'yeasty.' 

55.  bladed:  in  the  blade.  —  lodg'd:   laid  flat.    Cf.  Richard  //,  IIL 

iii,  162.    The  word  in  this  sense  is  still  in  common  use. 


SCENE  i  MACBETH  IOI 

Their  heads  to  their  foundations ;  though  the  treasure 
Of  nature's  germens  tumble  all  together, 
Even  till  destruction  sicken ;  answer  me  60 

To  what  I  ask  you. 

1  WITCH.  Speak. 

2  WITCH.  Demand. 

3  WITCH.  We  '11  answer. 

i  WITCH.   Say,  if  thou  'dst  rather  hear  it  from  our  mouths, 
Or  from  our  masters? 

MACBETH.  Call  'em,  let  me  see  'em. 

i  WITCH.   Pour  in  sow's  blood,  that  hath  eaten 

Her  nine  farrow ;  grease  that 's  sweaten        65 

From  the  murderer's  gibbet  throw 

Into  the  flame. 
ALL.  Come,  high  or  low; 

Thyself  and  office  deftly  show  ! 


Thunder.    First  APPARITION,  an  armed  Head 

MACBETH.   Tell  me,  thou  unknown  power,— 
i  WITCH.  He  knows  thy  thought : 

Hear  his  speech,  but  say  thou  nought.  70 

59.  nature's  Pope  \  Natures  Ff.  —  germens  Theobald  |  germaine  FiFa. 

59.  germens  :  seeds,  germs.    Cf.  King  Lear,  III,  ii,  8. 

65.  nine  farrow :  litter  of  nine  pigs.  '  Nine '  was  a  magic  number. 
Cf.  King  Lear,  III,  iv,  126.  —  sweaten.  An  irregularly  formed  parti- 
ciple. See  Abbott,  §  344. 

69.  an  armed  Head.    A  symbolical  representation  of  Macbeth's 
own  head  presented  to  Malcolm  by  Macduff.    See  V,  viii.  53. 

70.  Silence  was  necessary  during  all  incantations.    Cf.  The  Tem- 
pest, IV,  i,  126:  "Hush  and  be  mute,  Or  else  our  spell  is  marr'd. ' 


102        THE   NEW  HUDSON   SHAKESPEARE   ACT  iv 

i  APPARITION.    Macbeth  !    Macbeth  !    Macbeth  !    beware 

Macduff ; 
Beware  the  thane  of  Fife.  —  Dismiss  me  :  enough. 

\_Descends~\ 
MACBETH.    Whate'er    thou    art,    for    thy    good    caution, 

thanks ; 
Thou  hast  harp'd  my  fear  aright :  but  one  word  more,  — 

1  WITCH.    He  will  not  be  commanded  :  here  's  another, 
More  potent  than  the  first.  76 

Thunder.    Second  APPARITION,  a  bloody  Child 

2  APPARITION.    Macbeth  !  Macbeth  !  Macbeth  ! 
MACBETH.    Had  I  three  ears,  I  'd  hear  thee. 

2  APPARITION.    Be  bloody,  bold,  and  resolute ;   laugh  to 

scorn 

The  power  of  man,  for  none  of  woman  born  80 

Shall  harm  Macbeth.  [Descends] 

MACBETH.    Then  live,  Macduff  :  what  need  I  fear  of  thee  ? 
But  yet  I  '11  make  assurance  double  sure, 
And  take  a  bond  of  fate  :  thou  shalt  not  live ; 
That  I  may  tell  pale-hearted  fear  it  lies,  85 

And  sleep  in  spite  of  thunder. 

71.  Two  lines  in  Ff.  83.  assurance  I  assurance:  Ff. 
79.  Two  lines  in  Ff.  86-87.  One  line  in  Ff. 

72.  Spirits  thus  evoked  were  supposed  to  be  impatient  of  being 
questioned.    This  line  must  be  spoken  with  strong  pauses.    "  The 
rhythm  is  full  of  omen."  —  Liddell. 

77.  The  second  Apparition  represents  Macduff.    See  V,  viii,  16. 

78.  The  stress  is  on  '  ears,'  not  on  '  three.'    Cf.  the  common  ex- 
pression, "  To  listen  with  all  one's  ears." 

84.  take  a  bond  of  fate :  bind  fate  itself  to  the  performance  of  the 
promise.   By  killing  Macduff  he  will  make  the  promise  irrevocable. 


SCENE  i  MACBETH  103 

Thunder.    Third  APPARITION,  a  Child  crowned,  with  a 
tree  in  his  hand 

What  is  this, 

That  rises  like  the  issue  of  a  king, 
And  wears  upon  his  baby  brow  the  round 
And  top  of  sovereignty? 

ALL.  Listen,  but  speak  not  to 't. 

3  APPARITION.  Be  lion-mettl'd,  proud ;  and  take  no  care 
Who  chafes,  who  frets,  or  where  conspirers  are  :  91 

Macbeth  shall  never  vanquish'd  be  until 
Great  Birnam  wood  to  high  Dunsinane  hill 
Shall  come  against  him.  [Descends] 

MACBETH.  That  will  never  be  : 

Who  can  impress  the  forest;  bid  the  tree  95 

Unfix  his  earth-bound  root  ?   Sweet  bodements  !  good  ! 
Rebellion's  head,  rise  never  till  the  wood 
Of  Birnam  rise,  and  our  high-plac'd  Macbeth 

90.  lion-mettl'd  |  Lyon  metled  Ff.  97  Rebellion's  head  Hanmer  |  Re 

93.  Dunsinane  I  Dunsmane  l'i.  bellious  dead  Ff. 

94.  [Descends]  Rowel  Descend  Ff.  98.  Birnam  F4  I  Byrnan  Fi. 

86.  The  third  Apparition  represents  'royal  Malcolm.'    See  V,  iv,  4. 

88-89.  The  'round'  is  that  part  of  a  crown  which  encircles  the 
head  :  the  '  top '  is  the  ornament  symbolical  of  sovereign  power. 

93.  '  Dunsinane '  is  here  rightly  accented  on  the  penult ;  elsewhere 
in  the  play  it  is  accented  wrongly  on  the  last  syllable.  Both  pro- 
nunciations occur  in  Wyntoun's  Cronykil  (see  Introduction).  Pope 
attempted  to  make  the  pronunciation  here  conformable  to  that  in 
the  later  scenes  by  reading  '  Dunsinane's  high."  "A  certeine  witch, 
whom  hee  had  in  great  trust,  had  told  that  he  should  neuer  be  slaine 
with  man  borne  of  anie  woman,  nor  vanquished  till  the  wood  of 
Bernane  came  to  the  castell  of  Dunsinane." —  Holinshed. 

95.  impress  :  force  to  serve  as  soldiers.    Cf.  /  Henry  IV,  I,  i,  21. 


104        THE   NEW  HUDSON   SHAKESPEARE   ACT  IV 

Shall  live  the  lease  of  nature,  pay  his  breath 

To  time  and  mortal  custom.    Yet  my  heart  100 

Throbs  to  know  one  thing  :  tell  me,  if  your  art 

Can  tell  so  much  :  shall  Banquo's  issue  ever 

Reign  in  this  kingdom  ? 

ALL.  Seek  to  know  no  more. 

MACBETH.    I  will  be  satisfied  :  deny  me  this, 
And  an  eternal  curse  fall  on  you  !    Let  me  know  :  105 

Why  sinks  that  cauldron  ?  and  what  noise  is  this  ? 

\_Hautboys~\ 

1  WITCH.    Show ! 

2  WITCH.    Show  ! 

3  WITCH.   Show  ! 

ALL.  Show  his  eyes,  and  grieve  his  heart;  no 

Come  like  shadows,  so  depart ! 

A  show  of  eight  Kings,  the  last  with  a  glass  in  his  hand; 
BANQUO'S  Ghost  following 

MACBETH.    Thou  art  too  like  the  spirit  of  Banquo ;  down  i 
Thy  crown  does  sear  mine  eyeballs.   And  thy  hair, 
Thou  other  gold-bound  brow,  is  like  the  first : 
A  third  is  like  the  former.    Filthy  hags  !  115 

Why  do  you  show  me  this  ?    A  fourth  !    Start,  eyes  ! 
What,  will  the  line  stretch  out  to  th'  crack  of  doom? 

112.  A  show  .  .  .  the  last , .  .  Ghost      last,  with  a  glasse  in  his  hand  Ff. 
following  \  A  shew  .  .  .  and  Banquo          113.  hair  |  haire  Ff  |  air  Warburton. 

99-100.  Live  the  full  time  allotted  and  die  a  natural  death. 

112.  The  eight  kings  are  supposed  to  be  Robert  II,  Robert  III, 
and  the  six  Jameses.  Mary  Stuart,  daughter  of  James  V,  is  passed 
over,  as  the  Witches'  prediction  had  reference  only  to  kings. 

117.  crack  of  doom.  This  now  proverbial  expression  has  been 
taken  to  mean  specifically  either  the  thunder-peal  announcing  the 


SCENE  I  MACBETH  105 

Another  yet !   A  seventh  !   I  '11  see  no  more : 

And  yet  the  eighth  appears,  who  bears  a  glass 

Which  shows  me  many  more;  and  some  I  see  120 

That  twofold  balls  and  treble  sceptres  carry  : 

Horrible  sight !    Now  I  see  't  is  true  ; 

For  the  blood-bolter'd  Banquo  smiles  upon  me, 

And  points  at  them  for  his.    What,  is  this  so? 

i  WITCH.   Ay,  sir,  all  this  is  so;  but  why  125 

Stands  Macbeth  thus  amazedly? 
Come,  sisters,  cheer  we  up  his  sprites, 
And  show  the  best  of  our  delights  : 
I  '11  charm  the  air  to  give  a  sound, 

119.  eighth  FsF*  |  eight  FiFi 

Judgment-day  or  the  blast  of  the  last  trumpet.    Why  should  it  not 
connote  both  ?    See  Murray. 

119.  A  magic  glass,  or  charmed  mirror,  representing  and  revealing 
future  events,  was  and  is  a  common  method  of  divination.  Cf. 
Measure  for  Measure,  II,  ii,  94-95.  Such  was  the  "brood  mirour  of 
glas  "  which  the  "king  of  Arabic  and  of  Inde  "  sent  to  the  "  Tartre 
Cambinskan  "  as  told  by  Chaucer  in  The  Squieres  Tale.  But  the 
most  wonderful  glass  of  this  kind  in  literature  is  that  which 

The  great  Magitien  Merlin  had  deviz'd, 

By  his  deepe  science  and  hell-dreaded  might. 

The  Faerie  Queene,  III,  ii,  18. 

121.  This  line  is  usually  regarded  as  a  marked  compliment  to 
James  I.  The  two  balls  or  globes  probably  symbolized  the  two  inde- 
pendent crowns  of  England  and  Scotland;  the  three  sceptres,  the 
kingdoms  of  England,  Scotland,  and  Ireland.  Scott,  in  Quentin 
Durward,  when  Charles  the  Bold  has  Louis  of  France  in  his  power, 
makes  Comines  say  to  the  King :  "  It  is  his  (the  Duke's)  purpose  to 
close  his  ducal  coronet  with  an  imperial  arch,  and  surmount  it  with 
a  globe,  in  emblem  that  his  dominions  are  independent." 

123.  blood-bolter'd  :  having  hair  matted  with  blood.  "  The  normal 
forms  of  the  word  are  'baltered,'  'baultered.'  " —  Liddell. 


106        THE   NEW  HUDSON  SHAKESPEARE  ACT  rv 

While  you  perform  your  antic  round;  130 

That  this  great  king  may  kindly  say 
Our  duties  did  his  welcome  pay. 

[Music.    The  WITCHES  dance,  and  -vanish  with  HECATE] 
MACBETH.   Where  are  they?    Gone?    Let  this  pernicious 

hour 

Stand  aye  accursed  in  the  calendar  ! 
Come  in,  without  there  ! 

Enter  LENNOX 

LENNOX.  What 's  your  grace's  will?          135 

MACBETH,   Saw  you  the  weird  sisters? 

LENNOX.  No,  my  lord. 

MACBETH.    Came  they  not  by  you? 

LENNOX.  No,  indeed,  my  lord. 

MACBETH.    Infected  be  the  air  whereon  they  ride, 
And  damn'd  all  those  that  trust  them  !    I  did  hear 
The  galloping  of  horse  :  who  was  't  came  by?  140 

LENNOX.  'T  is  two  or  three,  my  lord,  that  bring  you  word 
Macduff  is  fled  to  England. 

MACBETH.  Fled  to  England  ! 

LENNOX.   Ay,  my  good  lord. 

130.  antic  |  antick  Theobald  |  an-  133.  Two  lines  in  Ff. 

tique  Ff.  136.  weird  |  weyard  Fi  |  wizard 

133.  -with  HECATE  |  Ff  omit.  FaFa  |  wizards  F4. 

130.  antic  :  quaint.  The  same  word  as  '  antique  '  ('  old-fashioned  ' 
and  so  '  quaint ').  In  Shakespeare  the  accent  is  invariably  on  the 
first  syllable. 

138-139.  Cf.  Paradise  Lost,  II,  662-663.  Milton's  indebtedness  to 
Richard  III  and  Macbeth  is  very  marked.  '  Macbeth  '  is  one  of  the 
subjects  from  British  history  which  he  jotted  down  in  1639-1640  as 
the  theme  of  a  possible  poem.  See  Masson's  Life  of  Milton,  II,  115. 


SCENE  it  MACBETH  107 

MACBETH.    \_Aside~\  Time,    thou   anticipat'st   my   dread 

exploits  : 

The  flighty  purpose  never  is  o'ertook  145 

Unless  the  deed  go  with  it :  from  this  moment 
The  very  firstlings  of  my  heart  shall  be 
The  firstlings  of  my  hand.   And  even  now, 
To  crown  my  thoughts  with  acts,  be  it  thought  and  done  : 
The  castle  of  Macduff  I  will  surprise ;  1 50 

Seize  upon  Fife ;  give  to  the  edge  o'  the  sword 
His  wife,  his  babes,  and  all  unfortunate  souls 
That  trace  him  in  his  line.    No  boasting  like  a  fool ; 
This  deed  I  '11  do  before  this  purpose  cool : 
But  no  more  sights  !    Where  are  these  gentlemen?  155 

Come,  bring  me  where  they  are.  \_Exeunt~\ 

SCENE  II.   Fife.    MACDUFF'S  castle 
Enter  LADY  MACDUFF,  her  SON,  and  Ross 

LADY  MACDUFF.   What  had  he  done,  to  make  him  fly  the 

land? 
Ross.    You  must  have  patience,  madam. 

144.  [Aside]  Johnson  |  Ff  omit.  LADY    MACDUFF  Rowe  |   Mac 

SCENE   II  |  Scene   III    Pope.—       duffe's  Wife  Ff. 
Fife  .  .  .  castle  \  Ff  omit. 

144.  anticipat'st :  dost  prevent.    So  in  Sonnets,  cxvm,  9. 

145.  flighty :  swift  to  take  flight.    The  original  meaning. 

155.  sights:  visions.  As  'portents'  the  word  is  used  in  Julius 
Ctesar,  I,  iii,  138  ;  II,  ii,  16.  Macbeth  is  greatly  disturbed  by  what  he 
has  seen  in  the  cavern. 

SCENE  II.  "  To  omit  this  scene,  as  is  usually  the  case  on  the 
stage,  is  to  present  Macbeth's  character  in  a  far  more  favorable  light 
than  Shakespeare  intended,  and  to  weaken  ths  force  of  MacdufT's 


108        THE   NEW  HUDSON   SHAKESPEARE    ACT  iv 

LADY  MACDUFF.  He  had  none ; 

His  flight  was  madness  :  when  our  actions  do  not, 
Our  fears  do  make  us  traitors. 

Ross.  You  know  not 

Whether  it  was  his  wisdom  or  his  fear.  5 

LADY  MACDUFF.    Wisdom  !  to  leave  his  wife,  to  leave  his 

babes, 

His  mansion,  and  his  titles,  in  a  place 
From  whence  himself  does  fly  !    He  loves  us  not ; 
He  wants  the  natural  touch  :  for  the  poor  wren, 
The  most  diminutive  of  birds,  will  fight,  10 

Her  young  ones  in  her  nest,  against  the  owl. 
All  is  the  fear  and  nothing  is  the  love  ; 
As  little  is  the  wisdom,  where  the  flight 
So  runs  against  all  reason. 

Ross.  My  dearest  coz, 

I  pray  you,  school  yourself  :  but,  for  your  husband,  15 

He  is  noble,  wise,  judicious,  and  best  knows 
The  fits  o'  the  season.    I  dare  not  speak  much  further  : 
But  cruel  are  the  times,  when  we  are  traitors 

14.  coz  Rowe  |  Cooz  FiFa  I  Couz  FsF±. 

cry  of  agony,  and  Lady  Macbeth's  heart-piercing  question  in  the 
sleep-walking  scene."  —  Bodenstedt. 

4.  make  us:  make  us  out  to  be.  When  our  actions  do  not  con- 
vict us  of  being  traitors,  our  fears  do.  Lady  Macduff  is  apprehen- 
sive that  her  husband's  flight  will  be  construed  as  proceeding  from 
guilty  fear. 

7.  titles  :  possessions.    The  things  to  which  he  has  a  '  title.' 

9.  natural  touch:  natural  affection,  sensibility  of  nature.  Cf. '  only 
touch  of  love,'  The  Tiuo  Gentlemen  of  Verona,  II,  vii,  18  ;  '  touch  of 
nature,'  Troilus  and  CressiJa,  III,  iii,  175. 

17.  fits  o'  the  season :  exigencies,  dangers,  of  the  time. 


SCENE  II  MACBETH  109 

And  do  not  know  ourselves ;  when  we  hold  rumour 

From  what  we  fear,  yet  know  not  what  we  fear,  20 

But  float  upon  a  wild  and  violent  sea 

Each  way  and  move.    I  take  my  leave  of  you; 

Shall  not  be  long  but  I  '11  be  here  again. 

Things  at  the  worst  will  cease,  or  else  climb  upward 

To  what  they  were  before.    My  pretty  cousin,  25 

Blessing  upon  you  ! 

LADY  MACDUFF.    Father'd  he  is,  and  yet  he  's  fatherless. 

Ross.    I  am  so  much  a  fool,  should  I  stay  longer, 
It  would  be  my  disgrace  and  your  discomfort : 
I  take  my  leave  at  once.  [_£xif] 

LADY  MACDUFF.  Sirrah,  your  father  "s  dead  :         30 

And  what  will  you  do  now?    How  will  you  live? 

SON.   As  birds  do,  mother. 

LADY  MACDUFF.  What,  with  worms  and  flies? 

97.  T-vo  lines  in  Ff.  29.  [Exit  \  Exit  Rosse  Ff. 

19-20.  Fear  makes  us  credit  rumor,  yet  we  know  not  what  to 
fear,  because  ignorant  when  we  offend.  A  condition  wherein  men 
believe  the  more,  because  they  fear,  and  fear  the  more,  because  they 
cannot  foresee  the  danger. 

22.  and  move.  An  awkward  expression.  Upwards  of  twenty  emen- 
dations have  been  suggested  (see  Furness  and  Clar),  but  the  general 
meaning  is  obvious.  'Move'  may  be  either  (i)  a  noun  meaning 
'direction,'  or  (?)  a  verb  with  the  sense  of  '  are  tossed  about.' 

24.  The  worse  a  disease  becomes,  the  sooner  there  will  be  either 
death  or  recovery.  The  very  excess  of  an  evil  often  starts  a  reaction, 
and  thence  a  return  to  a  better  state. 

29.  Disgrace  myself  and  make  you  uncomfortable  by  weeping. 

30.  Sirrah.    Often  used  as  a  form  of  address  to  inferiors,  or  to 
young  people. 

32.  SON.  A  peculiar  pathos  attaches  to  all  Shakespeare's  por- 
traits of  children.  Cf.  Prince  Arthur  in  King  John  and  Mamillius  in 


110        THE   NEW  HUDSON   SHAKESPEARE   ACT  iv 

SON.   With  what  I  get,  I  mean ;  and  so  do  they. 

LADY  MACDUFF.    Poor  bird  !  thou  'dst  never  fear  the  net 

nor  lime, 

The  pitfall  nor  the  gin.  35 

SON.    Why  should  I,  mother?    Poor  birds  they  are  not 

set  for. 
My  father  is  not  dead,  for  all  your  saying. 

LADY  MACDUFF.   Yes,  he  is  dead :  how  wilt  thou  do  for 

a  father? 

SON.    Nay,  how  will  you  do  for  a  husband  ? 
LADY  MACDUFF.    Why,  I  can  buy  me  twenty  at  any  market. 
SON.    Then  you  '11  buy  'em  to  sell  again.  41 

LADY  MACDUFF.    Thou  speak'st  with  all  thy  wit;  and  yet 

i'  faith, 
With  wit  enough  for  thee. 

SON.    Was  my  father  a  traitor,  mother? 

LADY  MACDUFF.    Ay,  that  he  was,  45 

SON.   What  is  a  traitor? 

34,  36,  38.  Two  lines  in  Ff.  43-43-  and  yet ...  for  thee  |  One 

42.  with  all  |  withall  FI.  line  in  Ff. 

The  Winter's  Tale.  His  own  little  boy  Hamnet  died  in  1 596.  Web- 
ster caught  the  spirit  of  this  pathos  in  The  White  Devil  in  the  scenes 
between  Brachiano  and  his  little  son  Giovanni.  "  This  scene,  dread- 
ful as  it  is,  is  still  a  relief,  because  a  variety,  because  domestic,  and 
therefore  soothing,  as  associated  with  the  only  real  pleasures  of  life. 
The  conversation  between  Lady  Macduff  and  her  child  heightens 
the  pathos,  and  is  preparatory  for  the  deep  tragedy  of  their  assas- 
sination."—  Coleridge. 

36.  Traps  are  not  set  for  the  poor  but  for  the  rich ;  not  for  chil- 
dren, but  for  important,  grown-up  men. 

44.  "  The  broken  metre  gradually  merges  into  prose,  here  as  in 
II,  iii,  used  by  Shakespeare  for  purposes  of  dramatic  relief."  — 
F  K  Chambers 


SCENE  II  MACBETH  1 1 1 

LADY  MACDUFF.   Why,  one  that  swears  and  lies. 

SON.    And  be  all  traitors  that  do  so? 

LADY  MACDUFF.  Every  one  that  does  so  is  a  traitor,  and 
must  be  hang'd.  50 

SON.   And  must  they  all  be  hang'd  that  swear  and  lie? 

LADY  MACDUFF.    Every  one. 

SON.   Who  must  hang  them  ? 

LADY  MACDUFF.   Why,  the  honest  men.  54 

SON.  Then  the  liars  and  swearers  are  fools ;  for  there  are 
liars  and  swearers  enow  to  beat  the  honest  men  and  hang 
up  them. 

LADY  MACDUFF.  Now,  God  help  thee,  poor  monkey  !  But 
how  wilt  thou  do  for  a  father?  59 

SON.  If  he  were  dead,  you  'd  weep  for  him  :  if  you  would 
not,  it  were  a  good  sign  that  I  should  quickly  have  a  new 
father. 

LADY  MACDUFF.    Poor  prattler,  how  thou  talk'st ! 

Enter  a  MESSENGER 

MESSENGER.   Bless  you,  fair  dame  !    I  am  not  to  you 

known, 
Though  in  your  state  of  honour  I  am  perfect.  65 

49-50,  58-59.  Two  lines  of  verse  63.  LADY    MACDUFF  |  Wife  Fi 

in  Ff.    Pope  printed  as  prose.  FsF<  |  Son  Fa. 

64.  "This  messenger  was  one   of   the   murderers   employed  by 
Macbeth  to  exterminate  Macduff's  family ;  but  who,  from  emotions 
of  pity  and  remorse,  had  outstripped  his  companions,  to  give  timely 
warning  of  their  approach." —  Heath.    "  This  messenger  may  come 
from    Lady    Macbeth."  —  Libby.    "  The    messenger   is    a   dramatic 
device  to  represent  Macbeth's  murderous  net  closing  around  Lady 
Macduff."—  Liddell. 

65.  Perfectly  acquainted  with  your  honorable  rank  and  character. 


112        THE   NEW  HUDSON   SHAKESPEARE   ACT  iv 

I  doubt  some  danger  does  approach  you  nearly : 

If  you  will  take  a  homely  man's  advice, 

Be  not  found  here;  hence,  with  your  little  ones. 

To  fright  you  thus,  methinks  I  am  too  savage ; 

To  do  worse  to  you  were  fell  cruelty,  70 

Which  is  too  nigh  your  person.    Heaven  preserve  you  ! 

I  dare  abide  no  longer.  [Exit] 

LADY  MACDUFF.  Whither  should  I  fly? 

I  have  done  no  harm.    But  I  remember  now 
I  am  in  this  earthly  world;  where  to  do  harm 
Is  often  laudable,  to  do  good  sometime  75 

Accounted  dangerous  folly  :  why  then,  alas, 
Do  I  put  up  that  womanly  defence, 
To  say  I  have  done  no  harm  ?  —  What  are  these  faces  ? 

Enter  MURDERERS 

i  MURDERER.   Where  is  your  husband? 

LADY  MACDUFF.    I  hope,  in  no  place  so  unsanctified     80 
Where  such  as  thou  mayst  find  him. 

i  MURDERER.  He  's  a  traitor. 

SON.    Thou  liest,  thou  shag-ear'd  villain  ! 

i  MURDERER.  [Stabbing  him~\  What,  you  egg  ! 

Young  fry  of  treachery  ! 

SON.  He  has  kill'd  me,  mother : 

Run  away,  I  pray  you  !  \_Dies\ 

\_Exit  LADY  MACDUFF,  crying  '  Murder  ! ' 
Exeunt  MURDERERS,  following  her\ 

78.  Two  lines  in  Ff.  84.  [Dies]    Capell  |   Ff    omit.  — 

82.  [Stabbing  hint]  Rowel  Ff  omit.        [Exit  \  Exit  crying  Murther  Ff. 

82.  shag-ear'd  :  with  shaggy,  hairy  ears.  For  this,  the  Folio  reading. 
Steeve.ns  suggested  'shag-hair'd.'    Cf.  2  Henry  VI,  III,  i,  367. 


SCENE  in  MACBETH  113 

SCENE  III.    England.   Before  the  King  s  palace 
Enter  MALCOLM  and  MACDUFF 

MALCOLM.    Let  us  seek  out  some  desolate  shade,  and  there 
Weep  our  sad  bosoms  empty. 

MACDUFF.  Let  us  rather 

Hold  fast  the  mortal  sword,  and,  like  good  men, 
Bestride  our  down-fall'n  birthdom.    Each  new  morn 
New  widows  howl,  new  orphans  cry,  new  sorrows  5 

Strike  heaven  on  the  face,  that  it  resounds 
As  if  it  felt  with  Scotland,  and  yell'd  out 
Like  syllable  of  dolour. 

MALCOLM.  What  I  believe,  I  '11  wail; 

What  know,  believe  ;  and  what  I  can  redress, 
As  I  shall  find  the  time  to  friend,  I  will.  10 

What  you  have  spoke,  it  may  be  so  perchance. 
This  tyrant,  whose  sole  name  blisters  our  tongues, 
Was  once  thought  honest  :  you  have  lov'd  him  well  ; 
He  hath  not  touch'd  you  yet.    I  am  young  ;  but  something 

SCENE    III  !  Scene  IV   Pope.  —  4.  down-fall'n   Globe  |  downfall 

England  .  .  .  palace  Dyce  |  Ff  omit. 


4.  Bestride  :  bravely  defend.  To  stand  over  a  fallen  comrade  and 
defend  him  was  a  special  bravery  of  friendship.  Cf.  /  Henry  7K,  V,  i, 
1  22  ;  2  Henry  fV,  I,  i,  207  ;  Comedy  of  Errors,  V,  i,  192.  —  birthdom  : 
native  land.  Some  take  it  in  the  sense  of  'birthright.' 

8.  Like  syllable  of  dolour:  a  similar  cry  of  pain. 

10.  to  friend:  friendly,  favorable.    Cf.  Julius  Casar,  III,  i,  143. 

14-16.  You  may  see  what  sort  of  a  man  Macbeth  is  from  my  sad 
experience,  and  learn  from  me  the  wise  policy  of  offering  up,  etc. 
Most  modern  editors  have  accepted  Theobald's  change  of  the  text. 
But  "  '  deserve  '  for  'discern  '  makes  nonsense  out  of  the  latter  part 
of  the  passage.  '  I  am  young,'  which  is  in  contrast  to  the  thought 


114       THE   NEW  HUDSON    SHAKESPEARE   ACT  IV 

You  may  discern  of  him  through  me,  and  wisdom  15 

To  offer  up  a  weak,  poor,  innocent  lamb 
T'  appease  an  angry  god. 

MACDUFF.    I  am  not  treacherous. 

MALCOLM.  But  Macbeth  is. 

A  good  and  virtuous  nature  may  recoil 
In  an  imperial  charge.    But  I  shall  crave  your  pardon  ;     20 
That  which  you  are,  my  thoughts  cannot  transpose  : 
Angels  are  bright  still,  though  the  brightest  fell : 
Though  all  things  foul  would  wear  the  brows  of  grace, 
Yet  grace  must  still  look  so. 

MACDUFF.  I  have  lost  my  hopes. 

MALCOLM.    Perchance  even  there  where  I  did  find  my 
doubts.  25 

15.  discern  FaF4  |  discerne  FiF2 1  me,  and  Ff  |  me  ;  and  Camb  |  me ; 
deserve  Theobald  Globe  Camb.  —  't  is  Hanmer. 

35.  Two  lines  in  Ff. 

which  '  but '  introduces,  is  meaningless  with  '  But  you  deserve  some- 
thing through  me.'  The  normal  contrast  with  Malcolm's  youth  and 
innocency  would  be  a  characteristic  of  age  and  experience  ;  this  we 
have  if  we  take  '  discern  '  in  its  Elizabethan  sense,  '  to  learn  by  dis- 
cernment';  the  word  in  this  sense  is  usually  followed  by  'of.'"  — 
Liddell.  In  earlier  editions  of  Hudson's  Shakespeare,  Theobald's 
reading  was  adopted  with  this  interpretation :  You  may  purchase  or 
secure  his  favor  by  sacrificing  me  to  his  malice ;  and  to  do  so  would 
be  an  act  of  worldly  wisdom  on  your  part,  as  I  have  no  power  to 
punish  you  for  it. 

19-20.  May  recede  or  fall  away  from  goodness  and  virtue  under 
the  temptations  of  a  man  so  powerful  to  resent  or  to  reward. 

21.  transpose  :  transform,  change.  Cf.  A  Midsummer  Night's 
Dream,  I,  i,  233. 

23-24.  Though  all  bad  things  should  counterfeit  the  looks  of 
goodness,  yet  goodness  must  still  wear  its  own  looks. 

25.  Though  Macduff  claims  to  have  fled  his  home  to  avoid  the 
tyrant's  blow,  he  has  left  his  wife  and  children  in  the  tyrant's  power. 


SCENE  in  MACBETH  115 

Why  in  that  rawness  left  you  wife  and  child, 

Those  precious  motives,  those  strong  knots  of  love, 

Without  leave-taking?    I  pray  you, 

Let  not  my  jealousies  be  your  dishonours, 

But  mine  own  safeties :  you  may  be  rightly  just,  30 

Whatever  I  shall  think. 

MACDUFF.  Bleed,  bleed,  poor  country  ! 

Great  tyranny,  lay  thou  thy  basis  sure, 
For  goodness  dare  not  check  thee ;  wear  thou  thy  wrongs ; 
The  title  is  affeer'd  !    Fare  thee  well,  lord  : 
I  would  not  be  the  villain  that  thou  think'st  35 

For  the  whole  space  that 's  in  the  tyrant's  grasp, 
And  the  rich  East  to  boot. 

MALCOLM.  Be  not  offended  : 

[  speak  not  as  in  absolute  fear  of  you. 
I  think  our  country  sinks  beneath  the  yoke  ; 
It  weeps,  it  bleeds;  and  each  new  day  a  gash  40 

Is  added  to  her  wounds  :  I  think  withal 
There  would  be  hands  uplifted  in  my  right ; 

33.  dare  FiFs  I  dares  FsF4.  Malone. —  affeer'd  Hanmer  |  affear'd 

34.  The  Ff  |  His  Pope  |  Thy  FiFa  I  afear'd  Fa  I  afeard  F4. 

This  makes  the  prince  distrust  his  purpose  and  suspect  him  of  being 
a  secret  agent  of  Macbeth.  And  so,  when  he  says,  "  I  have  lost  my 
hopes,"  the  prince  replies,  Perhaps  the  cause  which  has  destroyed 
your  hopes  is  the  very  same  that  leads  me  to  distrust  you ;  that  is, 
perhaps  you  have  hoped  to  betray  me,  and  this  is  just  what  I  fear. 
26.  rawness:  unprovided  condition.  Cf.  Henry  V,  IV,  i,  147. 

33.  wear  thou  thy  wrongs.    Does   '  thou  '  refer  to   '  country,'  to- 
'tyranny,'  or  to  Malcolm?    'Tyranny'  is  probably  the   object  ad- 
dressed, and  the  meaning  will  be,  Enjoy  the  place  and  honors  gained 
by  your  wrong-doing. 

34.  The  title  is  affeer'd :  the  title  you  put  forward  is  confirmed. 


Il6       THE   NEW  HUDSON   SHAKESPEARE   ACT  n 

And  here  from  gracious  England  have  I  offer 

Of  goodly  thousands  :  but,  for  all  this, 

When  I  shall  tread  upon  the  tyrant's  head,  45 

Or  wear  it  on  my  sword,  yet  my  poor  country 

Shall  have  more  vices  than  it  had  before ; 

More  suffer,  and  more  sundry  ways  than  ever, 

By  him  that  shall  succeed. 

MACDUFF.  What  should  he  be? 

MALCOLM.    It  is  myself  I  mean  ;  in  whom  I  know          50 
All  the  particulars  of  vice  so  grafted, 
That,  when  they  shall  be  open'd,  black  Macbeth 
Will  seem  as  pure  as  snow ;  and  the  poor  state 
Esteem  him  as  a  lamb,  being  compar'd 
With  my  confineless  harms. 

MACDUFF.  Not  in  the  legions  55 

Of  horrid  hell  can  come  a  devil  more  damn'd 
In  evils  to  top  Macbeth. 

MALCOLM.  I  grant  him  bloody, 

Luxurious,  avaricious,  false,  deceitful, 
Sudden,  malicious,  smacking  of  every  sin 
That  has  a  name  :  but  there  's  no  bottom,  none,  60 

In  my  voluptuousness ;  your  wives,  your  daughters, 
Your  matrons,  and  your  maids,  could  not  fill  up 
The  cistern  of  my  lust,  and  my  desire 

59.  smacking  Fi  |  smoaking  Fa  63.  cistern  FsF4  |  Cesterne  FiF-2. 

F8F4. 

43.  gracious  England  :  Edward  the  Confessor,  then  King  of  Eng- 
land. Cf.  King  John,  III,  iv,  8,  "  bloody  England  into  England." 

55.  confineless  harms:  boundless  vices.  Cf.  Othello,  III,  iii,  173, 
"  But  riches  fineless  is  as  poor  as  winter." 

57.  top :  surpass.    Cf.  King  Lear,  I,  ii,  21  ;  Coriolanus,  II,  i,  23. 


SCENE  m  MACBETH  117 

All  continent  impediments  would  o'erbear, 

That  did  oppose  my  will.   Better  Macbeth  65 

Than  such  an  one  to  reign. 

MACDUFF.  Boundless  intemperance 

In  nature  is  a  tyranny ;  it  hath  been 
Th'  untimely  emptying  of  the  happy  throne, 
And  fall  of  many  kings.   But  fear  not  yet 
To  take  upon  you  what  is  yours  :  you  may  70 

Convey  your  pleasures  in  a  spacious  plenty, 
And  yet  seem  cold,  the  time  you  may  so  hoodwink. 
We  have  willing  dames  enough ;  there  cannot  be 
That  vulture  in  you,  to  devour  so  many 
As  will  to  greatness  dedicate  themselves,  75 

Finding  it  so  inclin'd. 

MALCOLM.  With  this  there  grows, 

In  my  most  ill-compos'd  affection  such 
A  stanchless  avarice  that,  were  I  king, 
I  should  cut  off  the  nobles  for  their  lands, 
Desire  his  jewels  and  this  other's  house  :  80 

And  my  more-having  would  be  as  a  sauce 
To  make  me  hunger  more,  that  I  should  forge 
Quarrels  unjust  against  the  good  and  loyal, 
Destroying  them  for  wealth. 

MACDUFF.  This  avarice 

Sticks  deeper,  grows  with  more  pernicious  root  85 

Than  summer-seeming  lust,  and  it  hath  been 

86.  -seeming  Ff  I  -teeming  Theobald  |  -seeding  Steevens. 

71.  Convey:  obtain  in  secrecy.    Cf.  Richard  77,  IV,  i,  317. 
80.  his  :  one  man's.    Cf.  The  Merchant  of  Venice,  IV,  i,  54. 
86.  summer-seeming  :  summer-resembling.   The  passion  that  burns 
awhile  like  summer  and  like  summer  passes  away  is  contrasted  with 


118        THE   NEW  HUDSON   SHAKESPEARE    ACT  iv 

The  sword  of  our  slain  kings  :  yet  do  not  fear ; 

Scotland  hath  foisons  to  fill  up  your  will 

Of  your  mere  own  :  all  these  are  portable, 

With  other  graces  weigh'd.  90 

MALCOLM.    But  I  have  none  :  the  king-becoming  graces, 
As  justice,  verity,  temperance,  stableness, 
Bounty,  perseverance,  mercy,  lowliness, 
Devotion,  patience,  courage,  fortitude, 
I  have  no  relish  of  them  ;  but  abound  95 

In  the  division  of  each  several  crime, 
Acting  it  many  ways.    Nay,  had  I  power,  I  should 
Pour  the  sweet  milk  of  concord  into  hell, 
Uproar  the  universal  peace,  confound 
All  unity  on  earth. 

MACDUFF.  O  Scotland,  Scotland !  100 

88.  foisons  |  foysons    FiFa  I  poison  FsF4. 

the  other  passion,  avarice,  which  grows  stronger  and  stronger  to 
the  end  of  life.  Malone  calls  attention  to  "winter-seeming  summer's 
night  "  in  Donne's  Love's  Alchemy. 

87.  Either  (i)  the  sword  that  has  slain  our  kings,  or  (2)  the  evil 
that  has  caused  our  kings  to  be  slain  with  the  sword.   "  For  that  crime 
the  most  part  of  our  kings  have  been  slaine  and  brought  to  their 
final  end."  —  Holinshed. 

88.  foisons:  plenty,  abundance.   See  Murray.    Cf.  Sonnets,  LIII,  9. 

89.  mere :  absolutely.  Cf. line  152.  —  portable:  endurable.  <Zi.Kiitg 
Lear,  III,  vi,  115  :  "How  light  and  portable  my  pain  seems  now." 

92.  verity :  honesty.    Cf.  As  You  Like  It,  III,  iv,  25.  —  temperance  : 
restraint.    Cf.  Hamlet,  III,  ii,  8;  Measure  for  Measure,  III,  ii,  251. 

93.  perseverance.    Accented  on  second  syllable.    The  Elizabethan 
pronunciation.    Similarly  the  verb  'persever'  was  accented  on  the 
penult,  rhyming  with  '  ever '  in  Spenser's  Amoretti. 

96.  division:   variation.    A  musical   term.    Cf.  Romeo  and  Juliet, 
III,  v,  29,  and  '  ravishing  division'  in  i  Henry  IV,  III,  i,  211. 
99.  Uproar:  fill  with  tumult.  —  confound:  destroy.    Cf.  II,  ii,  ii. 


SCENE  in  MACBETH  1 19 

MALCOLM.    If  such  a  one  be  fit  to  govern,  speak : 
I  am  as  I  have  spoken. 

MACDUFF.  Fit  to  govern  ! 

No,  not  to  live.    O  nation  miserable, 
With  an  untitled  tyrant  bloody-scepter'd, 
When  shalt  thou  see  thy  wholesome  days  again,  105 

Since  that  the  truest  issue  of  thy  throne 
By  his  own  interdiction  stands  accurs'd, 
And  does  blaspheme  his  breed?   Thy  royal  father 
Was  a  most  sainted  king  :  the  queen  that  bore  thee, 
Oftener  upon  her  knees  than  on  her  feet,  no 

Died  every  day  she  liv'd.    Fare  thee  well ! 
These  evils  thou  repeat'st  upon  thyself 
Hath  banish'd  me  from  Scotland.   O  my  breast, 
Thy  hope  ends  here  ! 

MALCOLM.  Macduff,  this  noble  passion, 

Child  of  integrity,  hath  from  my  soul  115 

Wip'd  the  black  scruples,  reconcil'd  my  thoughts 
To  thy  good  truth  and  honour.    Devilish  Macbeth 
By  many  of  these  trains  hath  sought  to  win  me 

102-103.  One  line  in  Ff.  109.  sainted  king  |  Sainted-King 

107.  accurs'd  |  accurst  FaFsF4  |         FiF2Fs  I  Sainted  King  F4. 
accust  Fi.  113.  Hath  Ff  1  Have  Rowe. 

106.  Since  that.  'That'  as  a  conjunctional  affix.  Cf.  line  185 
See  Abbott,  §  287. 

in.  Cf.  /  Corinthians,  xv,  31,  "I  die  daily."  "Every  day  of  her 
life  was  a  preparation  for  death." —  Clar. 

118.  trains :  lures,  devices  of  circumvention.  "  A  technical  term 
both  in  hawking  and  hunting :  in  hawking,  for  the  lure  thrown  out 
to  reclaim  a  falcon  given  to  ramble  .  .  .  and  in  hunting,  for  the  bait 
trailed  along  the  ground,  and  left  exposed,  to  tempt  the  animal  from 
his  lair  or  covert,  and  bring  him  fairly  within  the  power  of  the  lurk- 
ing huntsman."  —  T.  S.  Baynes. 


120        THE   NEW  HUDSON   SHAKESPEARE  ACT  iv 

Into  his  power ;  and  modest  wisdom  plucks  me 

From  over-credulous  haste  :  but  God  above  120 

Deal  between  thee  and  me  !  for  even  now 

I  put  myself  to  thy  direction,  and 

Unspeak  mine  own  detraction ;  here  abjure 

The  taints  and  blames  I  laid  upon  myself, 

For  strangers  to  my  nature.    I  am  yet  125 

Unknown  to  woman,  never  was  forsworn, 

Scarcely  have  coveted  what  was  mine  own, 

At  no  time  broke  my  faith,  would  not  betray 

The  devil  to  his  tellow,  and  delight 

No  less  in  truth  than  life  :  my  first  false  speaking  130 

Was  this  upon  myself.   What  I  am  truly, 

Is  thine  and  my  poor  country's  to  command ; 

Whither,  indeed,  before  thy  here-approach, 

Old  Siward,  with  ten  thousand  warlike  men, 

Already  at  a  point,  was  setting  forth  :  135 

Now  we  '11  together ;  and  the  chance  of  goodness 

Be  like  our  warranted  quarrel !   Why  are  you  silent? 

126.  woman  Fi  |  women  F2F3F4.  135.  Already  Ff  |  All  ready  Rows. 

133.  thy  FaFsF*  |  they  Fi.  —forth:  |  foorth:  Fi  |  foorth?  Fa. 

128-129.  ^  ne  would  not  betray  the  devil  to  his  friend,  much  less 
would  he  betray  him  to  his  enemy. 

133.  here-approach.    Cf.'here-remain,' line  148.    See  Abbott,  §  429. 

134.  "  In  the  mean  time,  Malcolme  purchased  such  fauor  at  King 
Edwards  hands,  that  old  Siward  earle  of  Northumberland,  was  ap- 
pointed with  ten  thousand  men  to  go  with  him  into  Scotland  to 
support  him  in  this  enterprise." — Holinshed. 

135.  at  a  point:  ready,  prepared.    Cf.  Hamlet,  I,  ii,  200,  "Armed 
at  point  exactly,  cap-a-pe  " ;  King  Lear,  I,  iv,  347. 

136-137.  May  the  chance  for  virtue  to  succeed  be  as  good,  as  well 
warranted,  as  our  cause  is  just.  For  '  quarrel '  in  the  sense  of  '  cause ' 
cf.  2  Henry  IV,  IV,  v,  169. 


SCENE  in  MACBETH  121 

MACDUFF.   Such  welcome  and  unwelcome  things  at  once 
'Tis  hard  to  reconcile. 

Enter  a  DOCTOR 

MALCOLM.   Well ;  more  anon.  —  Comes  the  king  forth,  i 
pray  you?  140 

DOCTOR.   Ay,  sir ;  there  are  a  crew  of  wretched  souls 
That  stay  his  cure  :  their  malady  convinces 
The  great  assay  of  art ;  but  at  his  touch, 
Such  sanctity  hath  heaven  given  his  hand, 
They  presently  amend. 

MALCOLM.  I  thank  you,  doctor.  145 

\_Exit  DOCTOR] 

MACDUFF.   What 's  the  disease  he  means  ? 

MALCOLM.  'Tis  call'd  the  evil : 

A  most  miraculous  work  in  this  good  king; 
Which  often,  since  my  here-remain  in  England, 
I  have  seen  him  do.    How  he  solicits  heaven, 
Himself  best  knows  :  but  strangely-visited  people,  1 50 

All  swoln  and  ulcerous,  pitiful  to  the  eye, 

140.  Scene  V  Pope. 

142.  convinces :  overcomes.    Cf.  I,  vii,  64. 

143.  assay :  attempt,  effort.    See  Murray.  —  art :  professional  skill. 
146-159.  This  episode,  really  irrelevant  to  the  action  of  the  play, 

is  usually  construed  as  a  courtly  compliment  to  James  I,  who  was 
always  pleased  to  exercise  the  power  of  '  touching '  for  the  '  king's 
evil,'  as  scrofula  was  called.  The  description  of  Edward  the  Con- 
fessor is  from  Holinshed :  <:  As  hath  bin  thought  he  was  enspired 
with  the  gift  of  Prophecie,  and  also  to  haue  hadde  the  gift  of  heal- 
ing infirmities  and  diseases.  Namely  he  vsed  to  help  those  that  were 
vexed  with  the  disease,  commonly  called  the  Kyngs  euill,  and  left 
that  vertue  as  it  were  a  portion  of  inheritance  vnto  his  successors 
the  Kyngs  of  this  Realme." 


122        THE   NEW  HUDSON   SHAKESPEARE   ACT  iv 

The  mere  despair  of  surgery,  he  cures, 

Hanging  a  golden  stamp  about  their  necks, 

Put  on  with  holy  prayers  :  and  't  is  spoken, 

To  the  succeeding  royalty  he  leaves  155 

The  healing  benediction.   With  this  strange  virtue, 

He  hath  a  heavenly  gift  of  prophecy, 

And  sundry  blessings  hang  about  his  throne, 

That  speak  him  full  of  grace. 

Enter  Ross 

MACDUFF.  See,  who  comes  here? 

MALCOLM.    My  countryman ;  but  yet  I  know  him  not.    160 

MACDUFF.    My  ever-gentle  cousin,  welcome  hither. 

MALCOLM.  I  know  him  now.  Good  God,  betimes  remove 
The  means  that  makes  us  strangers  ! 

Ross.  Sir,  amen. 

MACDUFF.    Stands  Scotland  where  it  did? 

Ross.  Alas,  poor  country, 

Almost  afraid  to  know  itself  !  It  cannot  165 

159.  Scene  VI  Pope. 

153.  "  Each  person  touched  received  a  gold  coin.  Sir  Thomas 
Browne  wrote  sixty  years  later,  '  The  King's  Purse  knows  that  the 
King's  Evil  grows  more  common.' "  —  Herford.  In  Shakespeare's 
day  the  coin  given  (the  '  evil-gold ')  was  an  '  angel.'  Cf.  The  Merchant 

of  Venice,  II,  vii,  55-57  : 

They  have  in  England 
A  coin  that  bears  the  figure  of  an  angel 
Stamped  in  gold. 

162-163.  Malcolm  at  first  distrusts  Ross,  just  as  he  had  before 
distrusted  Macduff :  but  he  has  given  his  confidence  unreservedly  to 
Macduff,  and  now  he  h?.s  full  faith  in  Ross  as  soon  as  he  sees  how 
Macduff  regards  him.  The  passage  is  very  delightful.  —  means- 
cause.  Either  singular  or  plural  in  Elizabethan  English. 


MACBETH  123 

Be  call'd  our  mother,  but  our  grave  :  where  nothing, 
But  who  knows  nothing,  is  once  seen  to  smile ; 
Where  sighs  and  groans  and  shrieks  that  rend  the  air, 
Are  made,  not  mark'd ;  where  violent  sorrow  seems 
A  modern  ecstasy  :  the  dead  man's  knell  170 

Is  there  scarce  ask'd  for  who ;  and  good  men's  lives 
Expire  before  the  flowers  in  their  caps, 
Dying  or  ere  they  sicken. 

MACDUFF.  O,  relation 

Too  nice,  and  yet  too  true  ! 

MALCOLM.  What 's  the  newest  grief  ? 

Ross.    That  of  an  hour's  age  doth  hiss  the  speaker  ;     175 
Each  minute  teems  a  new  one. 

MACDUFF.  How  does  my  wife  ? 

Ross.   Why,  well. 

MACDUFF.  And  all  my  children  ? 

Ross.  Well  too. 

MACDUFF.    The  tyrant  has  not  batter'd  at  their  peace  ? 

168.  rend  Rowe  |  rent  Ff.  173.  ere  Ff  ]  e'er  Rowe. 

170.  dead  man's  Johnson  |  Dead-  173-174.  0,  relation  .  .  .  too  true 

mans  FiF-2  |  Dead-man's  FsF4.  I  one  line  in  Ff. 

170.  modern  ecstasy :  ordinary,  common,  disturbance  of  mind. 

174.  nice :  particular,  elaborate.    Having  too  much  an  air  of  study 
and  art,  and  so  not  like  the  frank  utterance  of  deep  feeling.    See 
Murray. 

175.  That  which  is  but  an  hour  old  seems  out  of  date,  and  causes 
the  narrator  to  be  denounced  as  tedious. 

177-179.  This  use  of  'well,'  not  as  a  mere  equivoque,  but  as  a 
euphemism  for  'dead,'  is  illustrated  in  Antony  and  Cleopatra,  II,  v, 

3'-33= 

MESSENGER.    First,  madam,  he  is  well. 

CLEOPATRA.  Why,  there 's  more  gold 

But,  sirrah,  mark,  we  use 
To  say  the  dead  are  well. 


124        THE   NEW  HUDSON   SHAKESPEARE    ACT  iv 

Ross.    No ;  they  were  well  at  peace  when  I  did  leave  'em. 

MACDUFF.    Be  not  a  niggard  of  your  speech  :  how  goes 't? 

Ross.    When  I  came  hither  to  transport  the  tidings      181 
Which  I  have  heavily  borne,  there  ran  a  rumour 
Of  many  worthy  fellows  that  were  out ; 
Which  was  to  my  belief  witness'd  the  rather, 
For  that  I  saw  the  tyrant's  power  a-foot :  185 

Now  is  the  time  of  help ;  your  eye  in  Scotland 
Would  create  soldiers,  make  our  women  fight, 
To  doff  their  dire  distresses. 

MALCOLM.  Be  't  their  comfort 

We  are  coming  thither  :  gracious  England  hath 
Lent  us  good  Siward  and  ten  thousand  men;  190 

An  older  and  a  better  soldier  none 
That  Christendom  gives  out. 

Ross.  Would  I  could  answer 

This  comfort  with  the  like  !    But  I  have  words 
That  would  be  howl'd  out  in  the  desert  air, 
Where  hearing  should  not  latch  them. 

MACDUFF.  What  concern  they  ? 

195.  they?  Theobald  I  they,  Ff. 

183.  out :  in  arms,  in  open  revolt.  "  He  was  out  wi'  the  Hieland- 
men  in  Montrose's  time."  —  Sir  Walter  Scott,  'Wandering  Willie's 
Tale,'  Redgauntlet.  What  follows  means  that  the  '  rumour  '  is  con- 
firmed by  the  fact  that  Macbeth  has  put  his  troops  in  motion. 

188  doff  :  put  away.  '  Doff '  is  from  '  do  off '  as  '  don  '  from  '  do 
on.'  Cf.  '  dup  '  {Hamlet,  IV,  v,  53)  from  '  do  up.' 

192.  gives  out:  shows.  This  expression  with  this  meaning  occurs 
often  in  Shakespeare.  Cf.  Twelfth  Night,  III,  iv,  203;  Othello,  III, 
iii,  209;  The  Winter's  Tale,  IV,  iv,  149. 

195.  latch :  catch.  Cf.  Sonnets,  cxni,  6.  But  '  latch  '  in  A  Mid- 
summer Wight's  Dream,  III,  ii,  36,  is  probably  a  different  word,  mean- 
ing '  moisten.'  See  Murray  under  '  latch '  and  '  leach.' 


SCENE  m  MACBETH  125 

The  general  cause?  or  is  it  a  fee-grief  196 

Due  to  some  single  breast? 

Ross.  No  mind  that 's  honest 

But  in  it  shares  some  woe ;  though  the  main  part 
Pertains  to  you  alone. 

MACDUFF.  If  it  be  mine, 

Keep  it  not  from  me,  quickly  let  me  have  it.  200 

Ross.    Let  not  your  ears  despise  my  tongue  for  ever, 
Which  shall  possess  them  with  the  heaviest  sound 
That  ever  yet  they  heard. 

MACDUFF.  Hum  !  I  guess  at  it. 

Ross.   Your  castle  is  surpris'd ;  your  wife  and  babes 
Savagely  slaughter'd  :  to  relate  the  manner,  205 

Were,  on  the  quarry  of  these  murder'd  deer, 
To  add  the  death  of  you. 

MALCOLM.  Merciful  heaven  ! 

What,  man  !  ne'er  pull  your  hat  upon  your  brows ; 
Give  sorrow  words  :  the  grief  that  does  not  speak 
Whispers  the  o'er-fraught  heart  and  bids  it  break.  210 

MACDUFF.    My  children  too? 

Ross.  Wife,  children,  servants,  ail 

That  could  be  found. 

MACDUFF.  And  I  must  be  from  thence  ! 

My  wife  kill'd  too? 

Ross.  I  have  said. 

MALCOLM.  Be  comforted  : 

903.  Hum  !    Rowe  I  Humh  :  Ff  |  311-213.  Wife  .  .  .  too?  I  two  lines 

Humph!   Malone  |  Ha!  Hunter.  in  Ff,  first  ending  found. 

196.  fee-grief :  private,  individual  sorrow.  "A  grief  held  'in  fee 'by  a 

single  owner." — Herford.  Another  of  the  many  legal  terms  in  .\facbeth. 

206.  quarry :  heap  of  slain.  See  note,  I,  ii,  14.   Cf.  Hamlet,  V,  ii,  375. 


126        THE   NEW  HUDSON   SHAKESPEARE   ACT  iv 

Let's  make  us  medicines  of  our  great  revenge, 

To  cure  this  deadly  grief.  215 

MACDUFF.    He  has  no  children.  —  All  my  pretty  ones? 
Did  you  say  all?   O  hell-kite  !    All? 
What,  all  my  pretty  chickens  and  their  dam 
At  one  fell  swoop? 

MALCOLM.    Dispute  it  like  a  man. 

MACDUFF.  I  shall  do  so ;          220 

But  I  must  also  feel  it  as  a  man  : 
I  cannot  but  remember  such  things  were, 
That  were  most  precious  to  me.    Did  heaven  look  on, 
And  would  not  take  their  part?    Sinful  Macduff, 
They  were  all  struck  for  thee  !  naught  that  I  am,  225 

Not  for  their  own  demerits,  but  for  mine, 
Fell  slaughter  on  their  souls.    Heaven  rest  them  now  ! 

MALCOLM.  Be  this  the  whetstone  of  your  sword  :  let  grief 
Convert  to  anger ;  blunt  not  the  heart,  enrage  it. 

MACDUFF.  O,  I  could  play  the  woman  with  mine  eyes,  230 
And  braggart  with  my  tongue  !  But,  gentle  heavens, 

235.  struck  Rowe  |  strooke  FiF2. 

216.  He  has  no  children.  This  is  most  likely  said  of  Malcolm,  and 
with  reference  to  what  he  has  just  spoken,  though  it  is  commonly 
taken  as  referring  to  Macbeth,  and  in  the  idea  that,  as  he  has  no 
children,  there  can  be  no  adequate  revenge  upon  him.  But  the  true 
meaning  probably  is,  that  if  Malcolm  were  a  father,  he  would  know 
that  such  a  grief  cannot  be  healed  with  the  medicine  of  revenge. 
Cf.  King  John,  III,  iv,  91.  Besides,  it  would  seem  that  Macbeth  has 
children,  else  why  should  he  strain  so  hard  to  have  the  regal  suc- 
cession "  stand  in  his  posterity"  ?  And  Lady  Macbeth  knows  "how 
tender  'tis  to  love  the  babe  that  milks  me  "  (I,  vii,  55). 

220.  Dispute  it :  strive  against  it,  resist  it. 

225.  naught:  wicked,  worthless.  Not  to  be  confounded  with 
'nought.'  Cf.  'naughty'  in  The  Merchant  of  Venice,  V,  i,  91. 


SCENE  ill  MACBETH  127 

Cut  short  all  intermission ;  front  to  front 
Bring  thou  this  fiend  of  Scotland  and  myself; 
Within  my  sword's  length  set  him  ;  if  he  scape> 
Heaven  forgive  him  too  ! 

MALCOLM.  This  tune  goes  manly.  235 

Come,  go  we  to  the  king;  our  power  is  ready; 
Our  lack  is  nothing  but  our  leave.    Macbeth 
Is  ripe  for  shaking,  and  the  powers  above 
Put  on  their  instruments.    Receive  what  cheer  you  may  : 
The  night  is  long  that  never  finds  the  day.  \_Exeunt~\ 

335.  t»mc  Rowe  |  time  Ff. 

235.  The  little  word  '  too '  is  so  used  here  as  to  intensify,  in  a  very 
remarkable  manner,  the  sense  of  what  precedes.  Put  him  once 
within  the  reach  of  my  sword,  and  if  I  don't  kill  him,  then  I  am  as 
bad  as  he,  and  may  God  forgive  us  both  !  —  tune.  Liddell  defends  the 
Folio  reading  here,  but  as  has  been  often  pointed  out,  '  time '  and 
'tune'  would  be  very  easily  confused  in  Elizabethan  manuscript. — 
manly.  Adjectives  ending  in  -ly  are  used  as  adverbs  in  Elizabethan 
English  without  any  change  of  form. 

237.  Nothing  remains  to  be  done  but  to  take  our  leave. 

239.  Put  on  their  instruments  :  set  their  agents  to  work. 


ACT  V 

SCENE  I.    Dunsinane.   Ante-room  in  the  castle 

Enter  a  DOCTOR  of  Physic  and  a  WAITING-GENTLEWOMAN 

DOCTOR.  I  have  two  nights  watch'd  with  you,  but  can  per- 
ceive no  truth  in  your  report.  When  was  it  she  last  walk'd  ? 

GENTLEWOMAN.  Since  his  majesty  went  into  the  field,  I 
have  seen  her  rise  from  her  bed,  throw  her  night-gown  upon 
her,  unlock  her  closet,  take  forth  paper,  fold  it,  write  upon  't, 
read  it,  afterwards  seal  it,  and  again  return  to  bed ;  yet  all 
this  while  in  a  most  fast  sleep.  7 

DOCTOR.  A  great  perturbation  in  nature,  to  receive  at 
once  the  benefit  of  sleep,  and  do  the  effects  of  watching  ! 
In  this  slumbery  agitation,  besides  her  walking  and  other 
actual  performances,  what,  at  any  time,  have  you  heard 
her  say?  12 

Dunsinane  Capell  |  Ff  omit.  —  Ante-room  in  the  castle  Globe  1  Ff  omit. 

3.  went  into  the  field.    Steevens  calls  this  one  of  Shakespeare's 
oversights.    In  the  preceding  scene,  Macbeth  was  said  to  have  his 
"  power  a-foot  "  (line  185)  against  "  many  worthy  fellows  that  were 
oat"  (line  183).    Probably  the  coming  of  the  English  forces  induced 
him  to  withdraw  his  troops  from  the  field  and  put  them  within  the 
strong  fortress  of  Dunsinane. 

4.  night-gown :  dressing-robe.    Cf.  II,  ii,  70. 

9.  do  the  effects  of  watching  :  act  as  in  her  waking  hours.  Shake- 
speare often  uses  'effects'  for  'actions.'  Cf.  King  Lear,  I,  i,  188; 
Hamlet,  III,  iv,  129.  See  Schmidt. 

128 


SCENE  I  MACBETH  129 

GENTLEWOMAN.  That,  sir,  which  I  will  not  report  after  her. 

DOCTOR.   You  may  to  me ;  and  't  is  most  meet  you  should. 

GENTLEWOMAN.    Neither  to  you  nor  any  one ;  having  no 

witness  to  confirm  my  speech.  16 

Enter  LADY  MACBETH,  with  a  taper 

Lo  you,  here  she  comes  !  This  is  her  very  guise ;  and, 
upon  my  life,  fast  asleep.  Observe  her  ;  stand  close. 

DOCTOR.    How  came  she  by  that  light?  19 

GENTLEWOMAN.  Why,  it  stood  by  her :  she  has  light  by 
her  continually;  'tis  her  command. 

DOCTOR.   You  see,  her  eyes  are  open. 

GENTLEWOMAN.   Ay,  but  their  sense  are  shut. 

DOCTOR.  What  is  it  she  does  now?  Look,  how  she  rubs 
her  hands.  25 

GENTLEWOMAN.  It  is  an  accustom'd  action  with  her,  to 
seem  thus  washing  her  hands;  I  have  known  her  continue 
in  this  a  quarter  of  an  hour. 

LADY  MACBETH.   Yet  here  's  a  spot.  29 

17.  Enter  LADY  MACBETH  . .  .  |  33.  sense  are  Ff  I  sense  is  Rowe. 
Enter  Lady  .  .  .  Ff.  24-35-  Ff  print  as  verse. 

14.  "  The  speeches  of  the  Doctor  .  .  .  have  a  certain  cadence 
verging  on  blank -verse,  without  quite  gliding  into  it." —  Delius. 

18.  stand  close  :  keep  concealed.    Cf.  Juliu s  Ccesar,  I,  iii,  131. 

20.  Contrast  this  with  her  invocation,  "  Come,  thick  night,  And 
pall  thee  in  the  dunnest  smoke  of  hell,"  I,  v,  48-49.  So  the  "  wash- 
ing her  hands  ...  a  quarter  of  an  hour"  as  compared  with  "A  little 
water  clears  us  of  this  deed,"  II,  ii,  67. 

23.  sense  are.  This,  the  Folio  reading,  is  usually  changed  to  'sense 
is,'  the  'are  '  being  regarded  as  a  printer's  repetition  of  'are  '  just 
above.  But  'sense'  is  a  plural  in  Sonnets,  cxii,  10.  Cf.  'balance1 
as  a  plural  in  The  Merchant  of  Venice,  IV,  i,  255.  See  Abbott,  §  471. 


130       THE   NEW  HUDSON   SHAKESPEARE     ACT  v 

DOCTOR.  Hark  !  she  speaks  :  I  will  set  down  what  comes 
from  her,  to  satisfy  my  remembrance  the  more  strongly. 

LADY  MACBETH.  Out,  damned  spot !  out,  I  say  !  —  One, 
two  ;  why,  then  't  is  time  to  do  't.  —  Hell  is  murky  !  —  Fie, 
my  lord,  fie!  a  soldier,  and  af  card?  What  need  we  fear  who 
knows  it,  when  none  can  call  our  power  to  account  ?  —  Yet 
who  would  have  thought  the  old  man  to  have  had  so  much 
blood  in  him?  37 

DOCTOR.    Do  you  mark  that? 

LADY  MACBETH.  The  thane  of  Fife  had  a  wife ;  where  is 
she  now?  —  What,  will  these  hands  ne'er  be  clean?  —  No 
more  o'  that,  my  lord,  no  more  o'  that :  you  mar  all  with 
this  starting.  42 

DOCTOR.  Go  to,  go  to ;  you  have  known  what  you 
should  not.  44 

GENTLEWOMAN.  She  has  spoke  what  she  should  not,  I  am 
sure  of  that :  heaven  knows  what  she  has  known. 

LADY  MACBETH.  Here  's  the  smell  of  the  blood  still :  all 
the  perfumes  of  Arabia  will  not  sweeten  this  little  hand.  Oh, 
oh,  oh  !  49 

35.  account  FsF4  I  accompt  FiFa.  47.  the  blood  FiFa  I  bloud  FsF4 

43-44.  Ff  print  as  two  lines  of  verse.        Rowe. 

33.  Hell  is  murky  !  Some  commentators,  following  Steevens,  think 
that  Lady  Macbeth  imagines  her  husband  to  utter  these  words,  and 
repeats  them  after  him  as  in  ridicule  or  reproach  of  his  fears. 

41-42.  She  is  alluding  to  the  terrors  of  Macbeth  on  seeing  the 
Ghost  of  Banquo  in  the  banquet  scene,  III,  iv,  63. 

47-48.  Upon  this  passage,  Verplanck,  after  remarking  how  fertile 
the  sense  of  smell  is  in  the  gentler  charms  of  poetry,  comments  : 

But  the  smell  has  never  been  successfully  used  as  the  means  of  impressing 
the  imagination  with  terror,  pity,  or  any  of  the  deeper  emotions,  except  in 
this  dreadful  sleep-walking  of  the  guilty  Queen,  and  in  one  parallel  scene 
of  the  Greek  Drama,  as  wildly  terrible  as  this.  It  is  that  passage  of  the 


SCENE  I  MACBETH  131 

DOCTOR.  What  a  sigh  is  there  !  The  heart  is  sorely 
charg'd. 

GENTLEWOMAN.  I  would  not  have  such  a  heart  in  my 
bosom  for  the  dignity  of  the  whole  body. 

DOCTOR.  Well,  well,  well,  — 

GENTLEWOMAN.   Pray  God  it  be,  sir.  55 

DOCTOR.  This  disease  is  beyond  my  practice  :  yet  I  have 
known  those  which  have  walk'd  in  their  sleep  who  have  died 
holily  in  their  beds.  58 

LADY  MACBETH.  Wash  your  hands ;  put  on  your  night- 
gown ;  look  not  so  pale.  I  tell  you  yet  again,  Banquo  's 
buried ;  he  cannot  come  out  on  's  grave. 

DOCTOR.   Even  so?  62 

LADY  MACBETH.  To  bed,  to  bed ;  there 's  knocking  at 
the  gate  :  come,  come,  come,  come,  give  me  your  hand  : 
what 's  done  cannot  be  undone  :  to  bed,  to  bed,  to  bed. 

[JSxif] 

DOCTOR.   Will  she  go  now  to  bed? 

GENTLEWOMAN.   Directly.  67 

53.  the  dignity  FiFa  |  dignity  FsF4. 

Agamemnon  of  jEschylus,  where  the  captive  prophetess  Cassandra,  wrapt 
in  visionary  inspiration,  scents  first  the  smell  of  blood,  and  then  the  vapours 
of  the  tomb  breathing  from  the  palace  of  Atrides,  as  ominous  of  his  approach- 
ing murder.  These  two  stand  alone  in  poetry ;  and  Fuseli,  in  his  Lectures, 
informs  us  that  when,  in  the  kindred  art  of  painting,  it  has  been  attempted 
to  produce  tragic  effect  through  the  medium  of  ideas  drawn  from  this  '  squeam- 
ish sense,'  even  Raphael  and  Poussin  have  failed,  and  excited  disgust  instead 
of  terror  and  compassion.  He  justly  remarks  that  'taste  and  smell,'  as 
sources  of  tragic  emotion,  seem  scarcely  admissible  in  art  or  in  the  theatre. 

55.  Does  the  Gentlewoman  misunderstand  the  Doctor's  "  Well, 
•well,  well,"  or  does  she  mean  this  as  a  further  hint  how  dreadful  the 
thing  is  ?  At  all  events,  this  may  be  regarded  as  one  of  Shake- 
speare's quiet,  unobtrusive  master-strokes  of  delineation. 


132       THE   NEW  HUDSON   SHAKESPEARE     ACT  v 

DOCTOR.    Foul  whisperings  are  abroad  :  unnatural  deeds 
Do  breed  unnatural  troubles  :  infected  minds 
To  their  deaf  pillows  will  discharge  their  secrets  :  70 

More  needs  she  the  divine  than  the  physician. 
God,  God  forgive  us  all !    Look  after  her ; 
Remove  from  her  the  means  of  all  annoyance, 
And  still  keep  eyes  upon  her.    So,  good  night : 
My  mind  she  has  mated,  and  amaz'd  my  sight :  75 

I  think,  but  dare  not  speak. 

GENTLEWOMAN.  Good  night,  good  doctor. 

\_Exeunf\ 

SCENE  II.    The  country  near  Dunsinane 

Drum  and  colours.   Enter  MENTEITH,  CAITHNESS,  ANGUS, 
LENNOX,  and  Soldiers 

MENTEITH.   The    English    power    is    near,   led    on    by 

Malcolm, 

His  uncle  Siward,  and  the  good  Macduff  : 
Revenges  burn  in  them  ;  for  their  dear  causes 
Would  to  the  bleeding  and  the  grim  alarm 
Excite  the  mortified  man. 

ANGUS.  Near  Birnam  wood  5 

Shall  we  well  meet  them ;  that  way  are  they  coming. 

The  country  near  Dunsinane  Capell  |  Ff  omit. 

73,  annoyance:  doing  violence  to  herself.  CLl?tcAardfJ,TH,ii,i6; 
Troilus  and  Cressida,  I,  iii,  48.  See  Murray.  This  foreshadows  the 
"  taking  off"  her  life  "by  self  and  violent  hands,"  V,  viii,  70-71. 

75.  mated:  bewildered.    Still  used  in  'check-mated.'    See  Skeat. 

4-5.  Would  rouse  and  impel  even  a  hermit  to  the  war,  to  the 
signal  for  carnage  and  horror.  By  '  the  mortified  man  '  is  meant  '  a 


SCENE  II  MACBETH  133 

CAITHNESS.   Who  knows  if  Donalbain  be  with  his  brother  ? 

LENNOX.    For  certain,  sir,  he  is  not :  I  have  a  file 
Of  all  the  gentry :  there  is  Siward's  son, 
And  many  unrough  youths,  that  even  now  10 

Protest  their  first  of  manhood. 

MENTEITH.  What  does  the  tyrant? 

CAITHNESS.   Great  Dunsinane  he  strongly  fortifies  : 
Some  say  he 's  mad  ;  others,  that  lesser  hate  him, 
Do  call  it  valiant  fury  :  but,  for  certain, 
He  cannot  buckle  his  distemper'd  cause  15 

Within  the  belt  of  rule. 

ANGUS.  Now  does  he  feel 

His  secret  murders  sticking  on  his  hands ; 
Now  minutely  revolts  upbraid  his  faith-breach ; 
Those  he  commands  move  only  in  command, 
Nothing  in  love  :  now  does  he  feel  his  title  20 

Hang  loose  about  him,  like  a  giant's  robe 
Upon  a  dwarfish  thief. 

10.  unrough  Theobald  |  vnruffe  FiFa  I  unruff  FgF*. 

religious  man,'  one  who  has  mortified  his  passions,  is  dead  to  the 
world.    Cf.  Love's  Labour's  Lost,  I,  i,  28-31. 

8.  file:  list,  catalogue.    Cf.  'the  valued  file,'  III,  i,  94,  101. 

10.  unrough:  beardless,  smooth-faced.    Cf.  The  Tempest,  II,  i,  250. 

11.  Protest.    Cf.  Ill,  iv,  105.  —  first  of  manhood.    Cf.  Ill,  i,  117. 

13.  "  But  after  that  Makbeth  perceiued  his  enimies  power  to  in- 
crease, by  such  aid  as  came  to  them  foorth  of  England  with  his 
aduersarie  Malcolme,  he  recoiled  backe  into  Fife,  there  purposing  to 
abide  in  campe  fortified,  at  the  castell  of  Dunsinane." —  Holinshed. 

15.  He  cannot  keep  his  disorganized  party  within  control.  For 
the  metaphor,  cf.  Troilus  and  Cressida,  II,  ii,  30.  In  previous  edi- 
tions of  Hudson's  Shakespeare,  Collier's  emendation  of  '  course ' 
(i.e.  'course  of  action')  for  'cause'  was  adopted. 

18.  minutely  :  occurring  every  minute.   Accent  on  first  syllable. 


134        THE   NEW  HUDSON   SHAKESPEARE     ACT  v 

MENTEITH.  Who  then  shall  blame 

His  pester'd  senses  to  recoil  and  start, 
When  all  that  is  within  him  does  condemn 
Itself  for  being  there  ? 

CAITHNESS.  Well,  march  we  on,  25 

To  give  obedience  where  't  is  truly  ow'd  : 
Meet  we  the  medicine  of  the  sickly  weal ; 
And  with  him  pour  we  in  our  country's  purge 
Each  drop  of  us. 

LENNOX.  Or  so  much  as  it  needs 

To  dew  the  sovereign  flower  and  drown  the  weeds.  30 

Make  we  our  march  towards  Birnam.     [Exeunt,  marching\ 

SCENE  III.   Dunsinane.   A  room,  in  the  castle 
Enter  MACBETH,  the  DOCTOR,  and  Attendants 

MACBETH.    Bring  me  no  more  reports ;  let  them  fly  all : 
Till  Birnam  wood  remove  to  Dunsinane 
I  cannot  taint  with  fear.   What 's  the  boy  Malcolm? 

27.  medicine  I  Med'cineFf  |  med'-  Dunsinane.  A  room  in  the  castle 

cin  Hanmer  |  medecin  Steevens.  Capell  I  Ff  omit. 

31.  Birnam  |  Birnan  FI.  2.  Birnam  FgF4  I  Byrnane  Fi. 

23.  pester'd :  troubled.  Another  word  that  has  degenerated  in 
meaning.  —  to  recoil  and  start.  Infinitive  used  gerundively. 

27.  medicine.  This  undoubtedly  refers  to  Malcolm,  but  is  the 
word  to  be  taken  as  meaning  'physician'  (Fr.  medecin  ;  cf.  Airs  Well 
that  Ends  Well,  II,  i,  75),  or  '  remedy,'  as  the  next  line  seems  to 
suggest  ?  Probably  the  word  is  used  in  the  double  sense  here  ;  cf. 
'  sovereign,'  in  line  30,  in  the  sense  of  '  royal '  and  '  powerful  remedy.' 
Malcolm  was  the  lawful  prince,  and  in  the  olden  time  the  best 
remedy  for  the  evils  of  tyranny,  or  the  greater  evils  of  civil  war,  was 
thought  to  be  a  king  with  a  clear  and  unquestioned  title. 

3.  taint :  be  infected.   A  transitive  verb  used  intransitively. 


SCENE  in  MACBETH  135 

Was  he  not  born  of  woman  ?   The  spirits  that  know 

All  mortal  consequences  have  pronounc'd  me  thus  :  5 

'  Fear  not,  Macbeth  ;  no  man  that  "s  born  of  woman 

Shall  e'er  have  power  upon  thee.'   Then  fly,  false  thanes, 

And  mingle  with  the  English  epicures  : 

The  mind  I  sway  by  and  the  heart  I  bear 

Shall  never  sag  with  doubt  nor  shake  with  fear.  10 

Enter  a  SERVANT 

The  devil  damn  thee  black,  thou  cream-fac'd  loon  ! 
Where  got'st  thou  that  goose  look? 

SERVANT.   There  is  ten  thousand  — 

MACBETH.  Geese,  villain  ? 

SERVANT.  Soldiers,  sir. 

MACBETH.   Go  prick  thy  face,  and  over-red  thy  fear, 
Thou  lily-liver 'd  boy.    What  soldiers,  patch?  15 

Death  of  thy  soul !  those  linen  cheeks  of  thine 
Are  counsellors  to  fear.   What  soldiers,  whey-face? 

xx.  loon  Fa  1  Loone  FiFa  |  Lown  F4.          12.  goose  look  |  Goose-looke  Ff. 

5.  An  Alexandrine  verse.  —  me.    Probably  an  ethical  dative. 
8.  Cf.  this  passage  from  Holinshed : 

For  manie  of  the  people  abhorring  the  riotous  manners  and  superfluous 
gormandizing  brought  in  among  them  by  the  Englyshemen  were  willing 
inough  to  receive  this  Donald  for  their  King  .  .  .  bicause  he  had  beene 
brought  up  in  the  lies,  with  old  customes  and  maners  of  their  ancient  nation 
without  tast  of  the  English  likerous  delicates. 

n.  loon.  This  word  of  uncertain  origin  is  still  in  common  use  in 
Scotland  and  the  north  of  England  in  the  sense  of  'lad'  or  'loafer.' 
In  the  sixteenth  century  it  often  meant  'a  man  of  low  birth,'  as  in 
the  phrase  '  lord  and  loon  ';  cf.  Pericles,  IV,  vi,  19. 

15.  lily-liver'd  :  cowardly.  Falstaff  in  2  Henry  IV,  IV,  iii,  no- 
114,  says:  "The  second  property  of  your  excellent  sherris  is  the 


136       THE   NEW  HUDSON   SHAKESPEARE     ACT  v 

SERVANT.   The  English  force,  so  please  you. 

MACBETH.   Take  thy  face  hence.  \Exit  SERVANT] 

Seyton  !  —  I  am  sick  at  heart, 

When  I  behold  —  Seyton,  I  say  !  —  This  push  20 

Will  cheer  me  ever,  or  disseat  me  now. 
I  have  liv'd  long  enough  :  my  way  of  life 
Is  fall'n  into  the  sear,  the  yellow  leaf  ; 
And  that  which  should  accompany  old  age, 
As  honour,  love,  obedience,  troops  of  friends,  25 

I  must  not  look  to  have  ;  but,  in  their  stead, 
Curses,  not  loud  but  deep,  mouth-honour,  breath, 
Which  the  poor  heart  would  fain  deny,  and  dare  not. 
Seyton  ! 

19.  {Exit  SERVANT]  Ff  omit.  chair  Percy  Dyce.  —  disseat  Steevens 

M.  cheer  FaF4  I  cheere  FiF2  I        I  dis-eate  Fi  |  disease 


warming  of  the  blood;  which,  before  cold  and  settled,  left  the  liver 
white  and  pale,  which  is  the  badge  of  pusillanimity  and  cowardice." 
Cf.  The  Merchant  of  Venice,  III,  ii,  86;  King  Lear,  II,  ii,  17;  IV, 
ii,  50.  —  patch:  clown,  fool.  Cf.  The  Tempest,  III,  ii,  71. 

21.  One  of  the  textual  cruces.    But  the  reading  of  the  text  makes 
satisfactory  sense,  Will  bring  comfort  to  me  for  the  rest  of  my  life, 
or  will  dethrone  me  now,  once  for  all.    Furness  would  hyphenate  the 
'  disease  '  of  the  later  Folios,  and  interpret,  Will  bring  at  once  per- 
manent relief  or  affliction.    In  previous  editions  of  Hudson's  Shake- 
speare, Percy's  substitution  of  '  chair  '  for  '  cheer  '  was  adopted,  with 
the  interpretation,  Will  seat  me  firmly  on  the  throne,  or  else  unseat 
me  utterly. 

22.  my  way  of  life  :  the  course  of  my  life.  Johnson  suggested  '  May  ' 
for  'way,'  and,  as  a  parallel,  Clar  quotes  Richard  II,  III,  iv,  48-40 

23.  Cf.  Sonnets,  Lxxiil,  1-4: 

That  time  of  year  thou  may'st  in  me  behold 
When  yellow  leaves,  or  none,  or  few,  do  hang 

Upon  those  boughs  which  shake  against  the  cold, 
Bare,  ruin'd  choirs,  where  late  the  sweet  birds  sang. 


SCENE  in  MACBETH  137 

Enter  SEYTON 

SEYTON.   What  's  your  gracious  pleasure? 

MACBETH.  What  news  more? 

SEYTON.   All  is  confirm'd,  my  lord,  which  was  reported. 

MACBETH.    I  '11  fight,  till  from  my  bones  my  flesh  be 
hack'd.  32 

Give  me  my  armour. 

SEYTON.  'T  is  not  needed  yet. 

MACBETH.   I  '11  put  it  on. 

Send  out  moe  horses,  skirr  the  country  round  ;  35 

Hang  those  that  talk  of  fear.   Give  me  mine  armour. 
How  does  your  patient,  doctor? 

DOCTOR.  Not  so  sick,  my  lord, 

As  she  is  troubled  with  thick-coming  fancies, 
That  keep  her  from  her  rest. 

MACBETH.  Cure  her  of  that. 

Canst  thou  not  minister  to  a  mind  diseas'd,  40 

Pluck  from  the  memory  a  rooted  sorrow, 
Raze  out  the  written  troubles  of  the  brain, 
And  with  some  sweet  oblivious  antidote 


32.  be  Fi  |  is  F2FsF4.  39.  Cure  her  FzFsF*  |  Cure  Fi  -- 

35.  moe  FiFa  |  more  FsP<.  of  FiFa  I  from  FsF*. 

36.  talk  of  Fi  |  stand  in  FaFsF^  42.  Raze  FiFa  I  Raise  Fa  I  Rase  F<. 

35.  mo«  :  more.  Middle  and  Elizabethan  English  '  mo  '  or  '  moe  ' 
(from  Anglo-Saxon  ma)  usually  indicated  number  ;  '  more  '  (from 
Anglo-Saxon  mdra)  had  specific  reference  to  size.  —  skirr  :  scour. 
In  Henry  V,  IV,  vii,  64,  the  verb  is  used  intransitively. 

42.  Delius  notes  that  this  figure  occurs  in  Hamlet,  I,  v,  98-103. 

43.  oblivious  :  causing  forgetfulness.  Ci.  Paradise  Lost,  1,266-267: 

The  associates  and  co-partners  of  our  loss, 
Lie  thus  astonished  on  the  oblivious  pool. 


138        THE   NEW  HUDSON   SHAKESPEARE     ACT  v 

Cleanse  the  stuff  d  bosom  of  that  perilous  stuff 
Which  weighs  upon  the  heart? 

DOCTOR.  Therein  the  patient          45 

Must  minister  to  himself. 

MACBETH.   Throw  physic  to  the  dogs,  I  '11  none  of  it. 
Come,  put  mine  armour  on ;  give  me  my  staff. 
Seyton,  send  out.    Doctor,  the  thanes  fly  from  me. 
Come,  sir,  dispatch.    If  thou  couldst,  doctor,  cast  50 

The  water  of  my  land,  find  her  disease, 
And  purge  it  to  a  sound  and  pristine  health, 
I  would  applaud  thee  to  the  very  echo, 
That  should  applaud  again.    Pull 't  off,  I  say. 
What  rhubarb,  senna,  or  what  purgative  drug,  55 

Would  scour  these  English  hence?    Hear'st  thou  of  them? 

DOCTOR.   Ay,  my  good  lord  ;  your  royal  preparation 
Makes  us  hear  something. 

MACBETH.  Bring  it  after  me. 

J  will  not  be  afraid  of  death  and  bane, 
Till  Birnam  forest  come  to  Dunsinane.  60 

DOCTOR.  [Aside~\  Were  I  from  Dunsinane  away  and  clear, 
Profit  again  should  hardly  draw  me  here.  [Exennt~\ 

44.  stuff'd  |  stufft  Fi  |  stuft  Fa  55.  senna  F4  I  Cyme  Fi  |  Caeny 

FsF-j  I  full  Pope.  —  stuff  FsF*  |  stuff e  FaFa  I  clysme  Badham  conj.  |  sene 

FiFa  I  grief  Collier.  Wellesley  conj.  |  sirrah  Bullochconj. 

46.  to  Fi  |  unto  F2FsF4.  60.  Birnam  |  Birnane  Fi. 

48.  mine  FiF2Fs  |  my  F"4.  61.  [Aside]  Hanmer  |  Ff  omit. 

44.  stuff'd  . .  .  stuff.  Such  a  repetition  is  thoroughly  Shakespearian. 

48.  staff.   Either  'general's  baton'  (Clar)  or  'lance'  (Schmidt). 

50.  Come,  sir,  dispatch.    Spoken  to  the  armorer.  —  cast :  inspect. 

54.  Pull 't  off.  To  the  armorer.  The  "  Bring  it  after  me  "  of  line  58 
has  reference  to  this  piece  of  armor  just  ordered  to  be  pulled  off. 
These  orders,  so  effective  in  stage  representation,  show  Macbeth's 
agitation  and  impatience. 


SCENE  iv  MACBETH  139 

SCENE  IV.   Country  near  Birnam  wood 

Drum  and  colours.  Enter  MALCOLM,  old  SIWARD  and  his 
Son,  MACDUFF,  MENTEITH,  CAITHNESS,  ANGUS,  LENNOX, 
Ross,  and  SOLDIERS,  marching 

•MALCOLM.    Cousins,  I  hope  the  days  are  near  at  hand 
That  chambers  will  be  safe. 

MENTEITH.  We  doubt  it  nothing. 

SIWARD.   What  wood  is  this  before  us  ? 

MENTEITH.  The  wood  of  Birnam. 

MALCOLM.    Let  every  soldier  hew  him  down  a  bough, 
And  bear 't  before  him  :  thereby  shall  we  shadow  5 

The  numbers  of  our  host,  and  make  discovery 
Err  in  report  of  us. 

SOLDIERS.  It  shall  be  done. 

SIWARD.   We  learn  no  other  but  the  confident  tyrant 
Keeps  still  in  Dunsinane,  and  will  endure 
Our  sitting  down  before  't. 

MALCOLM.  'T  is  his  main  hope :  10 

Country  near  .  .  .  Globe  |  Ff  omit. 

2.  chambers  will  be  safe.  This  refers,  probably,  to  the  spies  and 
informers  whom  Macbeth  keeps  in  the  noblemen's  houses,  prowling 
about  their  private  chambers,  and  listening  at  their  key-holes.  Or  it 
may  have  reference  simply  to  Duncan's  murder. 

4-5.  Holinshed  thus  describes  the  incident : 

Malcome  following  hastilie  after  Makbeth,  came  the  night  before  the 
battell  vnto  Birnane  wood,  and  when  his  armie  had  rested  a  while  there  to 
refresh  them,  he  commanded  every  man  to  get  a  bough  of  some  tree  or  other 
of  that  wood  in  his  hand,  as  big  as  he  might  beare,  and  to  march  foorth 
therewith  in  such  wise,  that  on  the  next  morrow  they  might  come  closelie 
and  without  sight  in  this  manner  within  viewe  of  his  enimies. 


140       THE   NEW  HUDSON  SHAKESPEARE     ACT  v 

For,  where  there  is  advantage  to  be  given, 
Both  more  and  less  have  given  him  the  revolt, 
And  none  serve  with  him  but  constrained  things, 
Whose  hearts  are  absent  too. 

MACDUFF.  Let  our  just  censures 

Attend  the  true  event,  and  put  we  on  15 

Industrious  soldiership. 

SIWARD.  The  time  approaches 

That  will  with  due  decision  make  us  know 
What  we  shall  say  we  have  and  what  we  owe. 
Thoughts  speculative  their  unsure  hopes  relate, 
But  certain  issue  strokes  must  arbitrate  ;  20 

Towards  which  advance  the  war.  \_Excunt,  marching] 

SCENE  V.  Dunsinane.    The  castle 
Enter  MACBETH,  SEYTON,  and  Soldiers,  with  drum  and  colours 

MACBETH.    Hang  out  our  banners  on  the  outward  walls  ; 
The  cry  is  still,  '  They  come.'    Our  castle's  strength 
Will  laugh  a  siege  to  scorn  ;  here  let  them  lie 


11.  given    Ff  |  gone    Capell  |  got  Dunsinane.   T  fie  castle  \ 
Steevensconj.|takenKeightley(Ched-  i.  banners  on  the  outward  walls  ; 
worth  conj.)  |  ta'en  Walker  Dyce.  |  Banners  on  the  outward  walls,  Ff 

14-15.  just  censures  Attend  Fi  |  |  banners  !    on    the    outward    walls 

best  Censures  Before  FzFsF^  Keightky. 

n.  Various  substitutes  for  '  given  '  have  been  proposed.  Prob- 
ably '  to  them  '  should  be  supplied  after  '  given.' 

12.  more  and  less  :  high  and  low,  nobles  and  commons. 

14-15.  Let  our  judgments  wait  for  the  actual  result,  the  issue  of  the 
contest,  in  order  that  they  may  be  just.  A  proleptical  form  of  speech. 

18.  What  we  have  as  rights  and  what  are  our  duties. 

19-20.  There  is  no  use  speculating  or  talking  about  it  ;  nothing 
but  fighting  will  settle  the  matter. 


SCENE  v  MACBETH 


141 


Tfll  famine  and  the  ague  eat  them  up. 

Were  they  not  forc'd  with  those  that  should  be  ours,          5 

We  might  have  met  them  dareful,  beard  to  beard, 

And  beat  them  backward  home.     [A  cry  of  women  within'} 

What  is  that  noise  ? 

SEYTON.    It  is  the  cry  of  women,  my  good  lord.     \_Exit\ 
MACBETH.    I  have  almost  forgot  the  taste  of  fears  : 

The  time  has  been,  my  senses  would  have  cool'd  10 

To  hear  a  night-shriek,  and  my  fell  of  hair 

Would  at  a  dismal  treatise  rouse  and  stir 

As  life  were  in  't :  I  have  supp'd  full  with  horrors ; 

Direness,  familiar  to  my  slaughterous  thoughts, 

Cannot  once  start  me. 

Re-enter  SEYTON 

Wherefore  was  that  cry?  15 

SEYTON.   The  queen,  my  lord,  is  dead. 

MACBETH.   She  should  have  died  hereafter; 
There  would  have  been  a  time  for  such  a  word. 
To-morrow,  and  to-morrow,  and  to-morrow, 
Creeps  in  this  petty  pace  from  day  to  day,  20 

8.  [Exit]  Dyce  |  Ff  omit.  10.  cool'd  Ff  |  quail'd  Collier. 

5.  forc'd :  strengthened,  reenforced.  This  sense  of  '  force '  was 
common  in  the  sixteenth  century.  Collier  suggested  'farced,'  i.e. 
'stuffed.'  Cf.  'forcemeat,'  corruption  of  'farce-meat.' 

11.  To  hear :  at  hearing.   Infinitive  used  gerundively.  —  fell.    The 
original  meaning  of  '  fell '  is  '  skin  '  or  '  hide  '  of  an  animal,  and  thus 
Shakespeare  uses  the  word  in  King  Lear,  V,  iii,  24. 

12.  dismal:  tragic.    Cf.  I,  ii,  53.  —  treatise:  story.    Cf.  Muc h  Ado 
About  Nothing,  I,  i,  317  ;  Venus  and  Adonis,  774. 

17-19.  If  she  had  not  died  now,  she  would  have  died  hereafter; 
the  time  would  have  come  when  such  intelligence  had  to  be  spoken. 


142       THE   NEW  HUDSON  SHAKESPEARE     ACT  v 

To  the  last  syllable  of  recorded  time ; 

And  all  our  yesterdays  have  lighted  fools 

The  way  to  dusty  death.    Out,  out,  brief  candle  ! 

Life  's  but  a  walking  shadow ;  a  poor  player 

That  struts  and  frets  his  hour  upon  the  stage  25 

And  then  is  heard  no  more.    It  is  a  tale 

Told  by  an  idiot,  full  of  sound  and  fury, 

Signifying  nothing. 

Enter  a  MESSENGER 

Thou  com'st  to  use  thy  tongue ;  thy  story  quickly. 

MESSENGER.    Gracious  my  lord,  30 

I  should  report  that  which  I  say  I  saw, 
But  know  not  how  to  do  't. 

MACBETH.  Well,  say,  sir. 

MESSENGER.   As  I  did  stand  my  watch  upon  the  hill, 
I  look'd  toward  Birnam,  and  anon,  methought, 
The  wood  began  to  move. 

MACBETH.  Liar  and  slave !  35 

MESSENGER.    Let  me  endure  your  wrath,  if 't  be  not  so  : 
Within  this  three  mile  may  you  see  it  coming ; 
I  say,  a  moving  grove. 

23.  dusty  Fi  !  study  F-2FsF4  Rowe  30.  Gracious  my  Fi  |  My  gracious 

Pope  Capell  |  dusky  Hanmer  (Theo-       FaFsF^ 
bald  con j.).  37.  may  you  FiFa  I  youmayFaF.!. 

21.  recorded  time :  the  record  of  time.    A  proleptical  expression. 
24-28.  To  these  lines  Coleridge  prefixes  this  note  : 

Now  all  is  inward  with  him;  he  has  no  more  prudential  prospective 
reasonings.  His  wife,  the  only  being  who  could  have  had  any  seat  in  his 
affections,  dies :  he  puts  on  despondency,  the  final  heart-armour  of  the 
wretched,  and  would  fain  think  every  thing  shadowy  and  unsubstantial ;  as 
indeed  all  things  are  to  those  who  cannot  regard  them  as  symbols  of  goodness. 


SCENE  v  MACBETH  143 

MACBETH.  If  thou  speak'st  false, 

Upon  the  next  tree  shall  thou  hang  alive, 
Till  famine  cling  thee  :  if  thy  speech  be  sooth,  40 

I  care  not  if  thou  dost  for  me  as  much. 
I  pull  in' resolution,  and  begin 
To  doubt  th'  equivocation  of  the  fiend 
That  lies  like  truth  :  '  Fear  not,  till  Birnam  wood 
Do  come  to  Dunsinane ' ;  and  now  a  wood  45 

Comes  toward  Dunsinane.   Arm,  arm,  and  out ! 
If  this  which  he  avouches  does  appear, 
There  is  nor  flying  hence  nor  tarrying  here. 
I  'gin  to  be  a- weary  of  the  sun, 

43.  pull  Ff  I  pall  Johnson  conj.  48.  nor  flying  FiFa  I  no  flying  FsF*. 

40.  cling :  wither,  shrivel.   See  Murray.  —  sooth:  truth.    See  Skeat. 

42.  In  previous  editions  of  Hudson's  Shakespeare  Johnson's  con- 
jecture 'pall  in*  was  adopted  in  place  of  the  'pull  in'  of  the  Folios. 
'Pull  in'  may  be  interpreted  as  either  (i)  'check,'  'restrain,'  the 
probable  meaning  here ;  or  (2)  '  draw  back."  Cf.  Fletcher's  Sea 
Voyage,  III,  i:  "All  my  spirits,  As  if  they  had  heard  my  passing-bell 
go  for  me,  Pull  in  their  powers  and  give  me  up  to  destiny." 

46-52.  Dowden  thus  sums  up  his  character  study  of  Macbeth  : 

The  soul  of  Macbeth  never  quite  disappears  into  the  blackness  of  dark- 
ness: He  is  a  cloud  without  water  carried  about  of  v/inds;  a  tree  whose  fruit 
withers,  but  not  even  to  the  last  plucked  up  by  the  roots.  For  the  dull 
ferocity  of  Macbeth  is  joyless.  All  his  life  has  gone  irretrievably  astray,  and 
he  is  aware  of  this.  His  suspicion  becomes  uncontrollable;  his  reign  is  a 
reign  of  terror;  and,  as  he  drops  deeper  and  deeper  into  the  solitude  and  the 
gloom,  his  sense  of  error  and  misfortune,  futile  and  unproductive  as  that 
sense  is,  increases.  .  .  .  Finally  his  sensibility  has  grown  so  dull  that  even 
the  intelligence  of  his  wife's  death  —  the  death  of  her  who  had  been  bound 
to  him  by  such  close  communion  in  crime  —  hardly  moves  him,  and  seems 
little  more  than  one  additional  incident  in  the  weary,  meaningless  tale  of 
human  life.  .  .  .  Macbeth  remembers  that  he  once  knew  there  was  such  a 
thing  as  human  goodness.  He  stands  a  haggard  shadow  against  the  hand's- 
breadth  of  pale  sky  which  yields  us  sufficient  light  to  see  him. 


144       THE  NEW  HUDSON  SHAKESPEARE     ACT  v 

And  wish  th'  estate  o'  the  world  were  now  undone.  50 

Ring  the  alarum-bell !    Blow,  wind  !  come,  wrack  ! 

At  least  we  '11  die  with  harness  on  our  back.          [JExeunf] 

SCENE  VI.   Dunsinane.   Before  the  castle 

Drum  and  colours.  Enter  MALCOLM,  old  SIWARD,  MACDUFF, 
and  their  Army,  with  boughs 

MALCOLM.    Now  near  enough ;  your  leavy  screens  throw 

down, 

And  show  like  those  you  are.    You,  worthy  uncle, 
Shall,  with  my  cousin,  your  right  noble  son, 
Lead  our  first  battle  :  worthy  Macduff  and  we 
Shall  take  upon  's  what  else  remains  to  do,  5 

According  to  our  order. 

SIWARD.  Fare  you  well. 

Do  we  but  find  the  tyrant's  power  to-night, 
Let  us  be  beaten,  if  we  cannot  fight. 

MACDUFF.    Make  all  our  trumpets  speak ;  give  them  all 

breath,  9 

Those  clamorous  harbingers  of  blood  and  death.    [Exeunt] 

\Alarums  continued^ 

Dunsinane.   Before  the  castle  \  Ff  omit.         i.  Two  lines  in  Ff. 

52.  harness :  armor.  So  '  hamess'd '  in  Troilus  &nd  Cressida, 
I,  ii,  8.  Cf.  '  joints  of  the  harness,'  i  Kings,  xxii,  34. 

i.  'Leavy' is  the  earlier  and  more  normal  form  of 'leafy.'  Ci.Afuck 
Ado  About  Nothing,  II,  iii,  75  ;  Pericles,  V,  i,  51.  '  Leavy  labyrinth' 
occurs  in  Milton's  Comus,  line  278,  as  originally  printed. 

4.  first  battle :  foreguard,  vanguard.  Cf.  Julius  Ctzsar,  V,  i,  4,  16. 
Holinshed  uses  'battle'  in  the  sense  of '  battalions' :  "  When  his  whole 
power  was  come  together,  he  divided  the  same  into  three  battels." 


SCENE  vii  MACBETH  145 

SCENE  VII.  Another  part  of  the  field 
Enter  MACBETH 

MACBETH.   They  have  tied  me  to  a  stake ;  I  cannot  fly, 
But,  bear-like,  I  must  fight  the  course.    What 's  he 
That  was  not  born  of  woman  ?   Such  a  one 
Am  I  to  fear,  or  none. 

Enter  young  SIWARD 

YOUNG  SIWARD.   What  is  thy  name  ? 

MACBETH.  Thou  'It  be  afraid  to  hear  it. 

YOUNG  SIWARD.    No ;  though  thou  call'st  thyself  a  hotter 
name  6 

Than  any  is  in  hell. 

MACBETH.  My  name  's  Macbeth. 

YOUNG  SIWARD.   The  devil  himself  could  not  pronounce 

a  title 
More  hateful  to  mine  ear. 

MACBETH.  No,  nor  more  fearful. 

SCENE  VII  |  Scena  Septima  Ff  |  Another  part  of  the  field  Globe  |  Ff 
Rowe  Pope  continue  the  scene.  —  omit. 

2.  the  course.  This  was  a  phrase  of  bear-baiting,  where  the  bear 
was  tied  to  a  stake,  and  then  the  dogs  set  upon  him;  the  poor  bear 
could  not  run,  and  so  had  no  way  but  to  fight  it  out.  Cf.  King  Lear, 
III,  vii,  54 ;  Julius  Casar,  IV,  i,  48. 

The  end  of  Macbeth  is  savage,  and  almost  brutal,  —  a  death  without 
honour  or  loveliness.  He  fights  now,  not  like  '  Bellona's  bridegroom  lapp'd 
in  proof,'  but  with  a  wild  and  animal  clinging  to  life.  His  followers  desert 
him ;  he  feels  himself  taken  in  a  trap.  The  powers  of  evil  in  which  he  had 
trusted  turn  against  him  and  betray  him.  His  courage  becomes  a  desperate 
rage.  We  are  in  pain  until  the  horrible  necessity  is  accomplished. —  Dowden. 


146       THE   NEW  HUDSON   SHAKESPEARE     ACT  v 

YOUNG  SIWARD.    Thou  liest,  abhorred  tyrant ;    with  my 
sword  10 

I  '11  prove  the  lie  thou  speak'st. 

\They  fight,  and  young  SIWARD  is  slain~\ 
MACBETH.  Thou  wast  born  of  woman. 

But  swords  I  smile  at,  weapons  laugh  to  scorn, 
Brandish'd  by  man  that 's  of  a  woman  born.  [Exit] 

Alarums.    Enter  MACDUFF 

MACDUFF.    That   way  the  noise    is.     Tyrant,   show   thy 

face  ! 

If  thou  be'st  slain,  and  with  no  stroke  of  mine,  15 

My  wife  and  children's  ghosts  will  haunt  me  still. 
I  cannot  strike  at  wretched  kerns,  whose  arms 
Are  hir'd  to  bear  their  staves  :  either  thou,  Macbeth, 
Or  else  my  sword,  with  an  unbatter'd  edge, 
I  sheathe  again  undeeded.   There  thou  shouldst  be  ;          20 
By  this  great  clatter,  one  of  greatest  note 
Seems  bruitea.    Let  me  find  him,  fortune  ! 
And  more  I  beg  not.  [Exit.    Alarums^ 

Enter  MALCOLM  and  old  SIWARD 

SIWARD.  This  way,  my  lord.  The  castle 's  gently  render'd  : 
The  tyrant's  people  on  both  sides  do  fight;  25 

The  noble  thanes  do  bravely  in  the  war ; 
The  day  almost  itself  professes  yours, 
And  little  is  to  do. 

22.  bruited  :  noised  abroad.  Cf.  Hamlet,  I,  ii,  127  \  i  Henry  VI,  IT, 
iii,  68.  See  Murray.  Wherever  Macbeth  goes,  he  has  a  strong  guard 
or  escort  attending  him;  and  the  clattering  of  so  many  feet  and 
swords  would  indicate  his  approach. 


SCENE  vin  MACBETH  147 

MALCOLM.  We  have  met  with  foes 

That  strike  beside  us. 

SIWARD.  Enter,  sir,  the  castle.  29 

[Exeunt.    Alarum} 

SCENE  VIII.  Another  part  of  the  field 
Enter  MACBETH 

MACBETH.   Why  should  I  play  the  Roman  fool,  and  die 
On  mine  own  sword?  whiles  I  see  lives,  the  gashes 
Do  better  upon  them. 

Enter  MACDUFF 

MACDUFF.  Turn,  hell-hound,  turn  ! 

MACBETH.   Of  all  men  else  I  have  avoided  thee : 
But  get  thee  back ;  my  soul  is  too  much  charg'd  5 

With  blood  of  thine  already. 

MACDUFF.  I  have  no  words, 

SCENE   VIII   Dyce  |  Scene   VII       fart  of  the  field  Globe  |  Ff  omit. 
Pope  |  Ff  continue  scene.  —  Another  a.  whiles  Ff  |  whilst  Rowe. 

29.  That  strike  beside  us  :  who  take  pains  not  to  hit  us,  who 
only  sham  as  they  fight  against  us,  for  their  hearts  are  on  our  side. 
Cf.  3  Henry  VI,  II,  i,  129-132. 

i.  Brutus,  Cassius,  and  Antony,  in  Shakespeare's  great  Roman 
plays,  commit  suicide.  Cf.  Julius  C&sar,  V,  iii,  89,  where  Titinius,  as 
he  kills  himself,  says,  "  This  is  a  Roman's  part."  In  the  same  play, 
V,  i,  101-103,  Brutus,  referring  to  the  suicide  of  Marcus  Cato,  says: 

Even  by  the  rule  of  that  philosophy 

By  which  I  did  blame  Cato  for  the  death 

Which  he  did  give  himself. 

3-3.  While  I  see  living  foes,  it  is  better  to  be  exercising  my  sword 
upon  them  than  upon  myself. 


148       THE  NEW  HUDSON  SHAKESPEARE     ACT  v 

My  voice  is  in  my  sword  ;  thou  bloodier  villain 

Than  terms  can  give  thee  out !  \They  fighf\ 

MACBETH.  Thou  losest  labour : 

As  easy  mayst  thou  the  intrenchant  air 
With  thy  keen  sword  impress  as  make  me  bleed  :  10 

Let  fall  thy  blade  on  vulnerable  crests ; 
I  bear  a  charmed  life,  which  must  not  yield 
To  one  of  woman  born. 

MACDUFF.  Despair  thy  charm ; 

And  let  the  angel  whom  thou  still  hast  serv'd 
Tell  thee,  Macduff  was  from  his  mother's  womb  15 

Untimely  ripp'd. 

MACBETH.    Accursed  be  that  tongue  that  tells  me  so, 
For  it  hath  cow'd  my  better  part  of  man  ! 
And  be  these  juggling  fiends  no  more  believ'd, 
That  palter  with  us  in  a  double  sense ;  20 

That  keep  the  word  of  promise  to  our  ear, 
And  break  it  to  our  hope.    I  '11  not  fight  with  thee. 

MACDUFF.   Then  yield  thee,  coward, 
And  live  to  be  the  show  and  gaze  o'  the  time  : 
We  '11  have  thee,  as  our  rarer  monsters  are,  25 

8.  [  They  fight}  Malone  |  Fight :  Alarum  Ff. 

9.  intrenchant:  indivisible.  'To  trench'  is  'to  cut.'  Cf.  '  the  air 
invulnerable,'  Hamlet,  I,  i,  145.  For  active  participles  in  a  passive 
sense,  see  Abbott,  §  372. 

12.  charmed :  secured  against  human  assault  by  the  might  of 
magic  spells.  Cf.  Cymbeline,  V,  iii,  68-69. 

20.  palter  :   equivocate.    Cf.  Antony  and  Cleopatra,  III,  xi,  62-63. 

25-27.  An  advertising  practice  of  the  time.  Cf.  Much  Ado  About 
Nothing,  I,  i,  267  ;  The  Tempest,  II,  ii,  28-34.  "  Therewithal  he  slept 
unto  him  and  slue  him.  Then  cutting  his  head  from  his  shoulders 
he  set  it  upon  a  pole  and  brought  it  unto  Malcolm." — Holinshed. 


SCENE  viii  MACBETH  149 

Painted  upon  a  pole,  and  underwrit, 
'  Here  may  you  see*  the  tyrant.' 

MACBETH.  I  will  not  yield, 

To  kiss  the  ground  before  young  Malcolm's  feet, 
And  to  be  baited  with  the  rabble's  curse. 
Though  Birnam  wood  be  come  to  Dunsinane,  30 

And  thou  oppos'd,  being  of  no  woman  born, 
Yet  I  will  try  the  last :  before  my  body 
I  throw  my  warlike  shield  :  lay  on,  Macduff ; 
And  damn'd  be  him  that  first  cries,  '  Hold,  enough  ! ' 

\_Excunt,  fighting.    Alarums] 

Retreat.   Flourish.   Enter  with  drum  and  colours,  MALCOLM, 
old  SIWARD,  Ross,  the  other  Thanes,  and  Soldiers 

MALCOLM.    I  would  the  friends  we  miss  were  safe  arriv'd. 

SIWARD.  Some  must  go  off ;  and  yet,  by  these  I  see,  36 
So  great  a  day  as  this  is  cheaply  bought. 

MALCOLM.    Macduff  is  missing,  and  your  noble  son. 

Ross.    Your  son,  my  lord,  has  paid  a  soldier's  debt : 
He  only  liv'd  but  till  he  was  a  man ;  40 

The  which  no  sooner  had  his  prowess  confirm'd 
In  the  unshrinking  station  where  he  fought, 
But  like  a  man  he  died. 

34.  After  Alarums  Ff  have  Enter  35.  Scene  VIII  Pope.  —  Retreat. 

Fighting,  and  Macbeth  slaine.  \  Retreat,  and  Ff. 

34.  him.  "  Perhaps  '  let,'  or  some  such  word,  was  implied."  — 
Abbott,  §  208.  —  "  To  cry  '  hold '  "  was  an  authoritative  way  of  sepa- 
rating combatants,  according  to  the  old  military  rules  and  regu- 
lations. Cf.  I,  v,  52. 

36.  go  off.   A  not  unusual  Elizabethan  euphemism  for  '  die.' 

42.  unshrinking  station :  the  place  where  he  unshrinking  fought 


150       THE   NEW  HUDSON   SHAKESPEARE     ACT  v 

SIWARD.  Then  he  is  dead? 

Ross.  Ay,  and  brought  off  the  field :  your  cause  of  sorrow 
Must  not  be  measur'd  by  his  worth,  for  then  45 

It  hath  no  end. 

SIWARD.  Had  he  his  hurts  before? 

Ross.   Ay,  on  the  front. 

SIWARD.  Why  then,  God's  soldier  be  he  ! 

Had  I  as  many  sons  as  I  have  hairs, 
I  would  not  wish  them  to  a  fairer  death : 
And  so  his  knell  is  knoll'd. 

MALCOLM.  He 's  worth  more  sorrow,       50 

And  that  I  '11  spend  for  him. 

SIWARD.  He  's  worth  no  more  : 

They  say  he  parted  well,  and  paid  his  score ; 
And  so  God  be  with  him  !   Here  comes  newer  comfort. 

Re-enter  MACDUFF,  with  MACBETH'S  head 

MACDUFF.    Hail,  king  !    for  so  thou  art :    behold,  where 

stands 
Th'  usurper's  cursed  head  :  the  time  is  free.  55 

54.  Two  lines  in  Ff. 

47.  This  Spartan  bearing  is  thus  described  by  Holinshed  : 

When  his  father  heard  the  newes,  he  demanded  whether  he  receiued  the 
wound  whereof  he  died,  in  the  forepart  of  the  bodie,  or  in  the  hinder  part : 
and  when  it  was  told  him  that  he  receiued  it  in  the  forepart :  I  reioise  (saith 
he)  euen  with  all  my  heart,  for  I  would  not  wish  either  to  my  sonne  nor  to 
myselfe  any  other  kind  of  death. 

52.  parted :  departed.  So  "  a  parted  ...  at  the  turning  o'  the  tide," 
Henry  V,  II,  iii,  12.  —  score :  reckoning.  The  allusion  is  to  a  traveler 
taking  leave  of  an  inn.  The  old  inn  accounts  were  commonly  kept 
either  by  marking  down  the  items  with  chalk  on  a  board,  or  by 
cutting,  'scoring,'  notches  on  a  stick. 


SCENE  viii  MACBETH  151 

I  see  thee  compass'd  with  thy  kingdom's  pearl, 
That  speak  my  salutation  in  their  minds ; 
Whose  voices  I  desire  aloud  with  mine  : 
Hail,  King  of  Scotland  ! 

ALL.  Hail,  King  of  Scotland  !  [Flourish] 

MALCOLM.   We  shall  not  spend  a  large  expense  of  time 
Before  we  reckon  with  your  several  loves,  61 

And  make  us  even  with  you.    My  thanes  and  kinsmen, 
Henceforth  be  earls,  the  first  that  ever  Scotland 
In  such  an  honour  nam'd.    What 's  more  to  do, 
Which  would  be  planted  newly  with  the  time,  65 

As  calling  home  our  exil'd  friends  abroad 
That  fled  the  snares  of  watchful  tyranny ; 
Producing  forth  the  cruel  ministers 
Of  this  dead  butcher  and  his  fiend-like  queen, 

56.  peart  FsF4  I  Pearle  FiFa  I  peers  Rowe. 

56.  pearl :  choicest  ornament.  '  Pearl '  is  here  a  collective  noun 
and  is  used  as  such  by  Milton.  The  metaphor  describing  the  worthi- 
est nobles  is  a  string  of  pearls  encircling  the  neck,  or  the  head,  of 
royalty.  The  expression  seems  to  have  been  a  not  unusual  one.  In 
Dunbar's  The  Thrissill  and  the  Rose,  1 503,  we  have  : 

Welcome  to  be  our  princes  of  honour, 
Our  perle,  our  plesans,  and  our  paramour. 

62-75.  The  matter  of  Malcolm's  last  speech  is  in  this  passage 
from  Holinshed : 

Malcolme  Cammore  thus  recouering  the  relme  (as  ye  haue  heard)  by  sup- 
port of  king  Edward,  in  the  16  yeere  of  the  same  Edwards  reigne,  he  was 
crowned  at  Scone  the  25  day  of  Aprill,  in  the  yeere  of  our  Lord  1057. 
Immediatlie  after  his  coronation  he  called  a  parlement  at  Forfair,  in  the 
which  he  rewarded  them  with  lands  and  liuings  that  had  assisted  him  against 
Makbeth,  aduancing  them  to  fees  and  offices  as  he  saw  cause,  &  commanded 
that  speciallie  those  that  bare  the  surname  of  anie  offices  or  lands,  should 
haue  and  inioy  the  same.  He  created  manie  earles,  lords,  barons,  and  knights. 


152       THE   NEW  HUDSON  SHAKESPEARE     ACT  v 

Who,  as  't  is  thought,  by  self  and  violent  hands  70 

Took  off  her  life ;  this,  and  what  needful  else 
That  calls  upon  us,  by  the  grace  of  Grace, 
We  will  perform  in  measure,  time,  and  place : 
So,  thanks  to  all  at  once  and  to  each  one, 
Whom  we  invite  to  see  us  crown'd  at  Scone.  75 

\_Flourish,    Exeunt] 

75.  Exeunt  \  Exeunt  omnes  Ff. 

Manie  of  them  that  before  were  thanes,  were  at  this  time  made  earles,  as 
Fife,  Menteth,  Atholl,  Leuenox,  Murrey,  Cathnes,  Rosse,  and  Angus.  These 
were  the  first  earles  that  haue  beene  heard  of  amongst  the  Scotishmen,  (as 
their  histories  doo  make  mention) . 

70.  self :  own.  'Self '  is  here  used  as  an  adjective.   Cf.  Ill,  iv,  142. 

71.  For  the  ellipsis  of  'there  be  '  after  '  else,'  see  Abbott,  §  286. 

72.  grace  of  Grace.    "  This  is  an  expression  that  Shakespeare  is 
fond  of."  —  Malone.    Cf.  Two  Gentlemen  of  Verona,  III,  i,  146 ;  All's 
Well  that  Ends  Well,  II,  i,  163. 

74-75.  "  There  can  be  little  doubt  that  the  actor,  in  speaking  these 
lines,  addressed  the  audience  rather  than  the  dramatis  persona,  and 
made  this  utterance  of  thanks  serve  as  a  sort  of  epilogue."  —  Manly 


INDEX 


I.    WORDS  AND  PHRASES 


This  Index  includes  the  most  important  words,  phrases,  etc.,  explained  in 
the  notes.  The  figures  in  heavy-faced  type  refer  to  the  pages ;  those  in  plain 
type,  to  the  lines  containing  what  is  explained. 


acquaint  you  with  the 
perfect  spy  o'  the 
time:  74  129. 

Act  I,  Scene  II,  au- 
thenticity of :  5  i . 

Act  III,  Scene  V:  an 
interpolation:  91  l. 

Act  IV,  Scene  II,  omis- 
sion of:  107. 

addition:  18  106,7299. 

address'd:  49  24. 

adhere :  39  52. 

adjectives  as  adverbs: 
62  124. 

afeard:  18  96. 

affeer'd:   115  34. 

air  nimbly  and  sweetly, 
etc.:  32  1-3. 

Alexandrine  verse :  135 
5. 

all  hail,  Macbeth:  14 
48-50. 

all  '8  :   6  15. 

all  things  foul,  etc. : 
114  23-24. 

all  to  all:  87  92. 

all-thing:  68  13. 

and't:  95  19. 

angerly:  91  l. 

annoyance:  132  73. 

anon:  4  9. 

antic:  106  130. 

anticipat'st:  107  144. 


approve :  32  4. 

arm'd :  88  101. 

armed  head:  101  69. 

aroint  thee :  1 1  6. 

art:  121143. 

as  (as  if) :  49  27. 

as  (inasmuch  as) :  67  7. 

as  who :  96  42. 

assay  :  121  143. 

at  a  point:  120  135. 

attempt  and  not  the 
deed:  48  10. 

auger-hole:  61  109. 

augures:  90  124. 

avouch  it:  74  119. 

baby  of  a  girl:  88  106. 

badg'd:  59  88. 

bank:  36  6. 

banners  flout  the  sky, 
etc. :  9  49. 

Banquo  (pronuncia- 
tion) :  2,  note  3. 

beast:  38  47. 

Beelzebub:  53  4. 

Bellona's  bridegroom : 
9  54. 

bend  up  :  41  79. 

bestride:  113  4. 

betray  the  devil  to  his 
fellow:  120  128. 

Birnam  wood:  139  4-5. 

birthdom:  113  4. 

bladed:  100  55. 

'53 


blanket   of  the   dark: 

3051. 

blind-worm:  98  16. 
blood-bolter'd :  105  123. 
bond  of  fate:  102  84. 
borne  in  hand:  71  80. 
botches  :  75  133. 
brainsickly:  50  46. 
breach  in  nature:  60100. 
briefly:  62  120. 
brinded:  97  l. 
broken  line:  31  59. 
broken  metre:  110  44. 
bruited:  146  22. 
buckle  his  distemper'd 

cause,    etc. :    133 

15-16. 

but  (only) :  36  6. 
but  (unless) :  69  48. 
by  your  leave:  34  31. 
cadence  in  the  doctor's 

speeches :  129  14. 
candles :  42  5. 
captains  (trisyllabic) : 

834. 

careless:  23  n. 
casing  air:  83  23. 
cast:  55  27. 
cast  (inspect) :  13850. 
celebrates  pale  Hecate's 

offerings :  45  51. 
chambers  will  be  safe : 

1392. 


154       THE   NEW  HUDSON   SHAKESPEARE 


champion  me:  71  71. 
chance  of  goodness,  etc.: 

120  136-137. 
charmed  life:  148  12. 
chaudron:  99  33. 
cheer.  .  .  disseat:  136 

21. 

chops :  7  22. 
choughs :  90  125. 
chuck:  78  45. 
cleave  to  my  consent: 

44  25. 

clept:  72  93. 
cling:  143  40. 
clogs    me    with    this 

answer :  96  43. 
cloister'd:  78  41. 
close  contriver:  91  7. 
cloudy:  96  41. 
coign  of  vantage:  33  7. 
cold  (as    dissyllabic) : 

97  6. 

Colmekill:  65  33. 
combustion:  56  44. 
come,    sir,    dispatch  : 

138  50. 

come  in  time :  5  3  5. 
composition :  10  59. 
compt:  34  26. 
compunctious  visitings 

of  nature:  29  43. 
confineless  harms :  1 1 6 

55. 

confound :  1 1 8  99. 
confronted    him    with 

self-comparisons:  10 

55. 

confusion:  57  52. 
constancy  hath  left  you 

unattended:  52  68- 

69. 

convey:  117  71. 
convince:   40  64,   121 

142. 

copy:  78  38. 
corporal:  17  81. 


countenance:  58  66. 

crack:  8  37. 

crack  of  doom :  1 04  117. 

cross'd:  71  80. 

curbing  his  lavish  spir- 
it: 1057. 

damn'dbehim:  14934. 

damned  quarry:  6  14. 

darkness  .  .  .  entomb: 
63  9. 

demi-wolves :  72  93. 

desert  place :  3  i. 

died  every  day  she 
liv'd:  119  111. 

discern:  114  15. 

dismal:  141  12. 

dismiss  me  :  1 02  72. 

disposition:  89  113. 

dispute  it:  126  220. 

distance:  73  115. 

division:  118  96. 

division  into  acts  and 
scenes:  3  1. 

do  (work  mischief)  : 
12  10. 

do  the  effects  of  watch- 
ing :  128  9. 

doff:  124  188. 

dollars:  10  62. 

Dowden's  estimate  of 
Macbeth:  14346-52. 

dress'd:  37  36. 

dudgeon:  45  46. 

dunnest  smoke  :  30  49. 

Dunsinane:  103  93, 
133  12. 

duties :  24  24. 

Earl  of  Essex :  22  i. 

earls  created:  2,note4- 

easy  (adv.) :  62  124. 

ecstasy:  77  22. 

eight  kings:  104  112. 

eminence:  77  31. 

English  epicures :  135 
8. 

enter  the  Ghost:  8437. 


enter  three  murderers : 

80  i. 
entrance    (trisyllabic) : 

29  37. 
equivocate  to  heaven: 

54  10. 

equivocation:  54s. 
ere    humane    statute: 

8676. 

eternal  jewel:  70  67. 
ethical  dative:  135  5. 
everlasting  bonfire :  5  4 

17-18. 

exasperate :  95  38. 
expedition:  60  97. 
extend  his  passion:  85 

57. 

fact:  94  10. 
faculties:  36  17. 
fair  is  foul,  etc. :  4  10. 
falcon  .  .  .  owl:  64  12- 

13. 

fantastical:  15  53. 
farmer  that  hang'd 

himself,  etc.:  534-5. 
farrow:  101  65. 
fatal  bellman :  47  3. 
favour:  22  149,  32  70. 
fears  (dangers):  20 137. 
feast  is  sold,  etc. :  84 

33-37. 

fee-grief:  125  196. 
fell:  141  11. 
fight  the  course :  1 45  2. 
file  (list) :  133  8. 
fil'd:  70  64. 
filthy:  4  11. 
first  battle:  144  4. 
first  of  manhood:  133 

11. 
fits  o'  the  season:  108 

17. 
fix'd  his  head  upon  our 

battlements:  7  23. 
flattering  streams:  78 

33. 


INDEX 


155 


flaws :  85  63. 
Fleance:  81  18. 
flighty:  107  145. 
f oisons:  118  88. 
for  (on  account   of) : 

74  120. 

forbid:  12  21. 
forc'd:  141  5. 
fork:  98  16. 
from  broad  words  :  95 

21. 

gallowglasses :  6  13. 
genius :  70  55. 
gentle  my  lord  :  77  27. 
germens:   101  59. 
gild:  51  56. 
give  me    the  daggers 

.  .  .  devil:  51  53-55. 
give  thee  a  wind:  12 

11. 

given:  140  11. 
gives  out :  124  192. 
glass    (mirror) :    105 

119. 
go  not  my  horse  the 

better:  68  25. 
go  off  (die) :  149  36. 
God  be  with  you:  69 

43. 

God  'ild  :  33  in. 
golden  round:  28  26. 
golden  stamp:  122  i:,:t. 
Golgotha:  8  40. 
good  things  of  day,  etc.: 

79  52. 

goose :  54  14. 
gorgon:  57  57. 
gospelPd:  7287. 
gouts :  45  46. 
grace  of  Grace :  152  72. 
gracious  England :  1 1 6 

43. 

grave:  68  21. 
Graymalkin:  4  8. 
great    doom's    image : 

58  64. 


great  largess:  48  14. 

guilt:  51  57. 

gulf:  98  23. 

had  he  not  resembled 

my  father:  48  12-13. 
hail  (dissyllabic) :  5  5. 
hangman :  49  27. 
happy   prologues  :    20 

128. 

harbinger:  25  45. 
harness:  144  52. 
Harpier:  97  3. 
he  did  appoint  so:  56 

39. 
he  has  no  children :  126 

216. 
heaven's  cherubin :  36 

22. 

Hecate:  45  52. 
hell  is  murky:  130  33. 
here-approach :       120 

133. 

hermits :  34  20. 
his  (one  man's):  117 

80. 
his   wonders   and   his 

praises  do  contend : 

17  92. 
historical    present :    6 

15,  9  49. 

hold,  enough!  149  34. 
holp :  34  23. 
home       (thoroughly) : 

19  120. 
horses  . . .  turn'd  wild : 

64  14-16. 
hose:  54  13. 
housekeeper:  72  96. 
human  kindness:  27  15. 
hurlyburly:  8  3. 
husbandry:  42  4. 
Hyrcan:  88  101. 
I  have  no  spur:  37  25. 
I '11  to  England:  62  124. 
if  it  were  done,  etc.: 

35  1-2. 


if  th'  assassination  . . . 

success :  35  2—4. 
if  we  should  fail :  39  59. 
illness:  27  18. 
imperial     theme :     20 

129. 

impress:  103  95. 
in    (on    account    of): 

69  48. 
infinitive   used  gerun- 

dively:5045, 13423, 

141  11. 

inhabit:  88  HI;,. 
initiate  (adj.):  91  143. 
insane:  17  84. 
instant:  31  56. 
instruments :  7 1  80. 
interim  having  weigh'd 

it:  22  154. 
intrenchant:   148  9. 
-ion    (two    syllables) : 

6  is. 

jump:  36  7. 
just  censures  attend: 

140  14-15. 
jutty:  33  6. 
keep  peace  .  .  .  and 

it :  29  44-45. 
keeps  her  state:  82  5. 
kerns:  6  13. 
killing  swine:   11  2. 
king's  evil:  121   146- 

159. 

knocking  within :  51 57. 
knowings:  63  4. 
lac'd  with  his  golden 

blood :  60  99. 
lack  is  nothing  but  our 

leave:  127  237. 
Lady  Macbeth  is  car- 
ried out:  61  112. 
lapp'd  in  proof:  9  54. 
latch:  124  195. 
lated :  80  6. 
lease   of   nature,  etc.: 

104  99-100. 


156        THE   NEW  HUDSON   SHAKESPEARE 


leavy:  144  l. 

let ...  command:  6815. 

life 's   but  a  walking 

shadow,  etc.:   142 

24-28. 

light  by  her  continu- 
ally: 129  20. 
light  thickens:  79  50. 
like  the  poor  cat  i'  the 

adage:  38  45. 
lily-liver 'd:  135  15. 
limbeck:  40  67. 
limited:  56  38. 
line  (strengthen):  19 

112. 

lodg'd:  100  55. 
loon:  135  11. 
Lord's  anointedtemple: 

57  54. 
loss  of   syllable  after 

pause :  45  51. 
Macdonwald:  5  9. 
magot-pies:  90  125. 
make  our  faces  vizards 

to  our  hearts :  7  8  34. 
make  us  :  108  4. 
making  the  green  one 

red:  52  63. 
Malcolm,    Prince    of 

Cumberland:    25  38. 
Malcolm's  last  speech: 

151  62-75. 
manly:  127  235. 
manly    readiness :    62 

120. 

mated:  132  75. 
maws:  86  73. 
me  (eth.  dat):  96  41, 

135  5. 

means:  122  163. 
medicine:  134  27. 
meet,  pause  after :  8  7. 
memory  .  .  .  shall  be  a 

fume :  40  65-66. 
mere:  118  89. 
messenger:  111  64. 


metaphysical:  28  27. 
methought  I  heard   a 

voice  cry:  50  35. 
Middleton's  The  Witch: 

92  33,  99  43. 
Milton's  indebtedness : 

106  138-139. 
minion:  6  19. 
minions:  64  15. 
minutely:  133  18. 
missives:  27  6. 
mistrust:  80  2. 
modern   ecstasy:   123 

170. 

moe:  137  35. 
monuments:  86  72. 
moon's  eclipse :  99  28. 
more  and  less:  140  12. 
mortal:  29  39. 
mortality:  59  79. 
mortified  man:  132  5. 
mousing:  64  13. 
move :   109  22. 
mummy:  98  23. 
muse:  87  85. 
music  and  a  song:  92 

33,  99  43. 
my  disgrace,  etc. :  109 

29. 

naked  frailties :  61  113. 
napkins :  5  3  5. 
natural  touch:  108  9. 
naught:  126  225. 
nave  (navel) :  7  22. 
near  (nearer):  62  127. 
near'st  of  life:  73  117. 
nice:  123  174. 
night-gown:     52    70, 

128  4. 

nonpareil:  83  19. 
note  of  expectation:  81 

10. 
nothing    (adverbial) : 

18  96. 
nothing  is  but  what  is 

not:  21  141. 


notion:  71  82. 
oblivious:  137  43. 
obscure:  56  45. 
of  (with) :  6  13. 
offices:  43  14. 
old:  53  2. 
on  (of) :  17  84. 
ornament  of  life:  38  42. 
other  (otherwise):  41 

77. 
our  great  bidding :  90 

129. 

out:  124  183. 
overcome:  89  ill. 
owe  (have) :  16  76, 23 10. 
owl    scream    and    the 

crickets  cry:  48  is. 
owl  ...  the  fatal  bell- 
man: 47  3. 
paddock:  4  9. 
pall :  30  49. 
palter:  148  20. 
parted:  150  52. 
pass'd  in  probation :  71 

79. 

patch:  135  15. 
peak  :  12  23. 
peal:  78  43. 
pearl:  151  56. 
pent-house  lid:  12  20. 
perfect:  111  65. 
perseverance:  118  93. 
pester'd:  134  23. 
play  the  Roman  fool: 

147  l. 

plenteous  joys:  25  33. 
point:  120  135. 
point,    rebellious:    10 

56. 

poor  birds:  110  36. 
portable:  118  89. 
Porter's  scene:  53  i. 
posset:  47  6. 
posters:  13  33. 
present  him  eminence : 

77  31. 


INDEX 


157 


pretence :  62  118. 
pricking  of  my  thumbs : 

100  44. 
primrose  way,  etc. :  54 

17-18. 

profound:  92  24. 
proportion    both    of 

thanks  and :  24  19. 
prospect  of  belief:  16 

74. 

prosperous:  68  21. 
prosperous  gentleman: 

1673. 

protest:  88  105, 133  11. 
pull  in:  143  42. 
pull 'toff:  138  54. 
purveyor :  34  22. 
put    on    their    instru- 
ments: 127  239. 
quarrel  (cause):    120 

137. 

quarry:  6  14,  125  206. 
quell:  40  72. 
rat  without  a  tail:  12 

9. 

ravell'd  sleave:  50  37. 
raven  himself  is  hoarse: 

29  36. 

ravin  up:  65  28. 
ravin'd:  98  24. 
rawness:  115  26. 
raze  out .  .  .  troubles  of 

the  brain:  137  42. 
recoil  (fall  off ):  114  19. 
recorded  time:  14221. 
re-enter  the  Ghost:  87 

89. 

register'd:  22  151. 
remembrance  apply  to : 

77  30. 

remorse:  29  42. 
remove  the  means  .  .  . 

strangers:  122  162- 

163. 
require  a  clearness:  75 

132. 


respective  construc- 
tion: 15  55. 
rest  is  labour:  25  44. 
restrain     in     me    the 

cursed  thoughts :  42 

8. 

ronyon:  11  6. 
rooky:  79  51. 
round  and  top:  103  88- 

89. 

rubs:  75  133. 
rumour  from  what  we 

fear,  etc.:  109  19-20. 
rump-fed:  11  6. 
safe  toward  your  love 

and  honour :  24  27. 
safest  way :  63  129. 
Saint  Colme's  inch:  10 

61. 
say  thou  nought:  101 

70. 

Scone:  65  31. 
score:  150  52. 
scotch'd:  76  13. 
screw  your  courage  to 

the     sticking-place : 

39  60. 
sear,  the  yellow  leaf: 

136  23. 

season :  91  141. 
second  apparition :  102 

77. 

second  cock:  55  22. 
second  course:  50  39. 
security:  92  32. 
seeling  night:  79  46. 
seems  to  (is  about  to) : 

9  47,  28  27. 
self:  152  70. 
self-abuse:  91  142. 
sennet:  67  n. 
se'nnights:  12  22. 
sense  are:  129  23. 
senses:  45  44. 
sensible :  44  36 
sergeant:  5  3. 


servant  fee'd:  90  131. 
servant  to  defect:  43 

18. 

sewer:  35  i. 
shag-ear 'd:  112  82. 
shall  (will):  85  57. 
shard-borne:  78  42. 
she  should  have   died 

hereafter:  141  17. 
shipman's  card:  12  17. 
shoal:  36  6. 
shook  hands:  7  21. 
shoughs:  72  93. 
shut  up:  43  16 
sieve:  11  8. 
sightless:  3047,  3723. 
sights  (visions):   107 

155. 

since  that:  119  106. 
single  (weak):  20  140, 

33  16. 

sirrah:  109  30. 
Si  ward:  120  134. 
Siward's  Spartan  bear- 
ing: 150  47. 
skirr:  137  35. 
slab :  99  32. 
smell  of  blood :  1 30  47. 
so  fair  and  foul  a  day : 

14  38. 

solemn:  68  1 1. 
sometime:  33  11. 
son:  109  32. 
sooth:  8  36,  143  40. 
speculation :  8  8  95. 
speeches  shine:  67  7. 
spongy:  40  71. 
spy  o'  the  time :  74  129. 
staff:  138  48. 
stand  close:  129  18. 
stand    not,    etc. :     89 

119. 
stars,  hide  your  fires: 

26  50. 
still  (always):  36  8, 

6821. 


158        THE   NEW  HUDSON   SHAKESPEARE 


stones  prate  of,  etc.: 

46  58. 

strange  images :  1 8  97. 
strides :  46  55. 
strike  beside  us  :  147 

29. 
Studied  in  his  death: 

23  9. 
Stuff 'd.  .  .  stuff:  138 

44. 

success :  35  4. 
suggestion:  20  134. 
summer-seeming:  117 

86. 

surcease:  35  4. 
surveying  vantage :  8 

31. 

sweaten:  101  65. 
swelter'd:  97  8. 
sword    of    our    slain 

kings:  118  87. 
syllable  of  dolour :  1 1 3 

8. 

taint:  134  3. 
take  my  milk  for  gall : 

30  46. 

tale:  18  97. 
tears  shall  drown  the 

wind:  37  25. 
temperance:  118  92. 
terrible  dreams:  76  18. 
thane  of  Cawdor:   34 

20. 
that       (conjunctional 

affix):  119  106. 
that  (so  that):  10  58, 

15  57,  36  8,  48  7. 
that  great  bond :  7949. 
that  of  an  hour's  age, 

etc.:  123  175. 
that   which   cries  .  .  . 

have  it :  28  21. 
that  which  hath  made 

them  drunk:  47  l. 
thee  without  than  him 

within:  83  14. 


there  where  I  did  find 

my  doubts:  114  25. 
thick  as  tale:  18  97. 
things    at  the   worst, 

etc.:  109  24. 
things  bad  begun,  etc. : 

7955. 
third  apparition:    103 

86. 
thoughts    speculative, 

etc.:  140  19-20. 
three  ears:  102  78. 
thrice:  13  36,  97  2. 
Tiger  (name  of  ship) : 

11  7. 

time:  31  62. 
time  and  hour:  21  147. 
title  is  affeer'd:  11534. 
titles:  108  7. 
to    (compared   with) : 

85  64. 
to  (in  addition  to):  70 

51. 
to  alter  favour  .   .   . 

fear:  32  70. 
to  friend:  113  10. 
to  hear:  141  n. 
to     know     my     deed, 

'twere  best, etc.:  52 

73. 

to  that :  5  10. 
to  th' utterance:  71  71. 
to  write:  124  6. 
too:  127  235. 
top:  116  57. 
torture   of   the   mind: 

77  21. 

touch:  108  9. 
tow'ring:  64  12. 
tragic  irony:  23  13. 
trains:  119  118. 
transitive  verb  used  in- 
transitively:  134s. 
transpose:  114  21. 
travelling  lamp:  63  7. 
treatise:  141  12. 


trifl'd :  63  4. 

true,  worthy  Banqao: 

26  54. 
tugg'd   with  fortune: 

73  in. 

tune :  127  235. 
twofold  balls,  etc.:  105 

121. 
understood    relations : 

90  124. 

unlineal  hand:  70  62. 
unmannerly    breached 

with  gore:   60  103. 
unrough:  133  10. 
unshrinking     station : 

14942. 

uproar:  118  99. 
use  (custom) :  20  137. 
valued  file:  72  94. 
vaporous  drop:  92  24. 
venom :  97  8. 
verb  omitted  with  ideas 

of  motion :  7  26. 
verity  :  1 1 8  92. 
want  the  thought :  94 

8. 

wanton:  25  34. 
was  the   hope  drunk: 

3736. 

wassail:  40  64. 
watch:  46  54. 
water  rugs:  72  93. 
way  of  life :  1 36  22. 
wear  thou  thy  wrongs : 

115  33. 
weird:  13  32. 
we  '11   have   thee  .  .  . 

painted  upon  a  pole : 

148  25-27. 
well:  123  177. 
well,  well,  well,  etc. ; 

131  54-55. 
went    into    the    field: 

1283. 
what,  in   our   house? 

58  74. 


INDEX 


159 


what     needful     else 

(there     be):      152 

71. 
when   shall  we   three 

meet  again,  etc. :  3 

1-2. 

which  (who):  7  21. 
while  (until) :  69  43. 
whiles  I  see  lives,  etc. : 

147  2-3. 


who  (whom) :  74  122. 

willall  great  Neptune's 
ocean,  etc.:  51  60-61. 

wine  of  life :  59  81. 

wink  at :  26  52. 

witchcraft  (trisyllabic): 
45  51. 

witches,  first  appear- 
ance of:  3  l. 

withal:  15  57,  51  56. 


without  all:  76  n. 
woman's  story  . . .  fire : 

85  65. 

worm  (serpent):  8329. 
wrought:  22  149. 
yawning:  78  43. 
yesty:  100  53. 
you  mar  all,  etc.:  130 

41-42. 


II.    QUOTATIONS    FROM   HOLINSHED 


all  hail,  Macbeth:  14 
48. 

Banquo  summoned  to 
the  feast:  74  128. 

Birnam  wood:  139  4- 
5. 

chamberlains  .  .  .  con- 
vince: 40  63-64. 

Duncan  buried:  65  33- 
34. 

Duncan  makes  Malcolm 
Prince  of  Cumber- 
land :  25  38-39. 

Duncan  sent  forth  great 
largess:  43  14. 

dwindle,  peak  and  pine : 
12  23. 

earls  created  by  Mal- 
colm: 2,  note  4. 

Edward  the  Confessor 
and  the  king's  evil: 
121  146-159. 


English  epicures:  135 
8. 

Fleance  escapes :  81  is. 

kerns  and  gallow- 
glasses:  6  13. 

Macbeth  employs 
spies:  90  131-132. 

Macbeth  hears  a  voice : 
5035. 

Macbeth  invested  at 
Scone:  65  31-32. 

Macbeth  plansfor  clear- 
ing himself:  75  1:11. 

Macbeth  retires  to 
Dunsinane:  133  12. 

Macbeth 's  head:  148 
25-27. 

Macdonwald  :  5  9;  his 
headless  trunk:  7  23. 

Malcolm  crowned ;  cre- 
ates many  earls : 
151  62. 


Malcolm  flees  into  Eng- 
land: 62  124. 
monstrous  sights  seen: 

64  12-18. 
night's  predominance: 

63  8. 

Norweyan  lord:  8  31. 
Saint  Colme's  inch:  10 

61. 

sergeant:  5  3. 
Siward    hears    of    his 

son's  death:  150  47. 
Siward  sent  to  support 

Malcolm:  120  134. 
sword   of    our   slain 

kings:  118  87. 
weird  sisters :  1 3  32. 
wild  in  their  attire :  14 

40. 
witch's  prophecy:  103 

92-91 


-•sffis&sasa&s, 
--JsfeSS^"- 


A    001  297881 


